Spider-Man: Black and Blue
by February31st
Summary: After Cooper Cale is bit by a genetically-modified spider, he gains all kinds of crazy superpowers. Inspired, he uses these powers to protect the innocent, becoming Spider-Man. It isn't always easy, as more criminals and villains start popping up, wanting to take Spider-Man down. Not to mention the person in the background, pulling the strings. (Reboot of my old story.)
1. Origin Part 1

Note: This is a reboot of my old story, Spider-Man: Black and Blue. I was younger when I started that and pretty inexperienced. A few years later, I like to think I am a lot better at writing. I still loved my idea, my characters, and my plans for this story, but I just didn't like the old one. Lately, I've been very motivated to work on this as a side project, and I've done so much working and planning ahead for this. Anyway, without further ado, here is the new Spider-Man: Black and Blue.

* * *

Cooper Cale waved goodbye to his mother, Amanda, as she drove out of the driveway and off to her job at one of the many banks in Grand City. His father, James, who was a police officer, had left earlier that morning.

Cooper walked to the bus top at the end of the street and waited. It was the first day of school, and Cooper, along with his friends, were going to be high school juniors. He was somewhat excited, but he was kind of nervous, like he was every first day of school.

The yellow school bus pulled up to the stop, letting Cooper, who was the only one at the stop, in. Cooper saw one of his two best friends already sitting down. He walked over to Kate, who smiled once she saw him, which he returned.

"Hey, Cooper," Kate said, scooting over so he could sit.

"Ms. McCallister," Cooper replied with a tip of his imaginary hat. Kate rolled her eyes with a smirk. "It's been a while since we hung out," Cooper said. "When was it? Fourth of July?"

Kate nodded. "Yep. Did you do anything else this summer? Besides the beach?"

"We went and saw both pairs of grandparents a few weeks back. Took Dad forever to get some time off. Did you do anything new?"

"We went camping upstate for a few days, and we visited the Falls while we were there. We went to Funland, AGAIN," Kate said with an annoyed expression. "And we went fishing last weekend."

"Damn," Cooper said, chuckling. "You've been busy. At least, more than me."

Kate giggled and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. It was a pretty fun summer."

By then, the bus had stopped again. A few students got onto the bus, one of them being Cooper's other best friend, Seth. He saw the two and immediately ran over to them. He slid in beside Cooper, squeezing the others. They were used to this, as this was how they always sat, even if there were other seats.

"What's up, nerds?" Seth asked, adjusting himself to give more room. "How's it been?"

"It's been good," Cooper chuckled.

"Fantastic," Kate smiled.

"Anyway… BOOM!" Seth exclaimed, sticking his feet in front of him. "Peep the new Yeezys! Sick, right?"

Cooper nodded. "Definitely, man." Seth liked to wear "designer" clothes and such. It was how he expressed himself. And if he could afford it, which Seth could, Cooper was all about it. If his friend was happy, that was good with him.

"How many pairs of those do you have now?" Kate asked, bewildered.

"Not enough," Seth smirked.

Cooper laughed. "So, Seth. How was L.A.?"

"Man, it was the bomb. Santa Monica Pier was the shit. So dope. And I got this hella cute girl's number while I was there."

Cooper chuckled, while Kate rolled her eyes.

"Nah, I'm joking. I did talk to her some, though."

The three quickly caught up, as it had been a while since they had all been together. They quickly arrived at the high school. Inside, the three split up to find their respective lockers. Once Cooper found his locker, #62, he started dumping his extra books and supplies inside. While he was doing so, a voice called out from behind him.

"Crash landing!"

A second later, something poked the back of Cooper's head. He watched a paper airplane fall to his feet. He sighed. He already knew who had thrown it. He turned around and smiled, "Good to see ya, Chase."

Chase Miller stood among his friends, a couple of their girlfriends thrown in there. While he wasn't so much a bully anymore, he was still quite a nuisance, picking on others, especially Cooper and Seth. Nobody messed with Kate though, as she didn't put up with it at all. Chase stood with a smirk on his face. "Cale," was all he said back.

Cooper put his books for his first class in his backpack and shut his locker. "Paper airplane. Real mature. Didn't you do that last year?" Cooper asked before walking away.

"Suck it, you prick," Chase called out.

Cooper didn't turn around. He just flipped Chase off, hoping no teachers were watching.

When Cooper arrived to his first class, English, he was pleasantly surprised to see Kate, an open seat next to her. He quickly got to it, sitting down. "Hey again," he said.

Kate chuckled. "Hey."

"This teacher supposed to be any good?" Cooper asked as he took his stuff out of his backpack.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, supposed to. At least from what I've heard."

The teacher then walked in, their first class underway. The rest of the day went pretty well. After school, the three were outside talking.

"Anyway, Dad asked me to stop by PT after school, so I gotta do that. You two wanna come?" Seth asked.

"I would, seriously, but I've gotta stay and talk to Coach. She asked us girls on the volleyball team to stay behind for a little bit," Kate replied.

"Oh shit! Think you're gonna be promoted to team captain?" Seth asked.

Kate laughed. "I doubt it. Ashlyn is so good and so sweet. I wouldn't want to anyway."

"She's super hot, too. She's in my Geography class," Seth said. Kate shook her head as Cooper tried to hold in a laugh from Seth's comment. "Anyway… Coop? Can you go?"

Cooper composed himself and replied, "Yeah, sure."

"Alright, well, we'll see you later, Ms. Volleyball," Seth said to Kate.

Kate laughed, "And hey! You two better come to some of my games this year!"

Cooper shrugged. "I don't know, I've got quite a busy schedule this year," he replied sarcastically.

Kate giggled as she went back into the school building.

Seth laughed as well. "Alright, lets go, man," he said, as the two boys left.

At Phillips Tech, Seth's dad's company, Cooper was observing the place while Seth was off talking to his dad. It had been a good while since Cooper had last been in this place, and there was a lot of new stuff. Cooper had always been into technology, and he was really fascinated with everything there. He was currently watching machines from behind glass, as they experimented with all kinds of chemicals and formulas. There were several glass cases in the room, where several types of insects and even some arachnids were held.

Unbeknownst to Cooper, an escaped spider was lowering itself from the ceiling. It climbed onto Cooper's backpack, hiding in the crevices.

Seth quickly came back, his father behind him. "Thank, God. I thought I lost you," Seth joked. The truth was, Cooper had barely moved since they got there.

Cooper chuckled. He quickly stuck out his hand as Seth's dad approached him. "Good to see you, Mr. Phillips," he said.

"Cooper, please. Wayne. I have to tell you every time," Wayne smiled as he shook Cooper's hand.

"Just trying to be respectful, sir," Cooper replied.

"Good man. I had to come this way anyway, so I thought I would just come with Seth," Wayne turned towards the window that Cooper had been watching. "Anyway, pretty cool, isn't it? You know what they're doing?"

"Not if I'm being honest," Cooper replied, watching the machines once again.

"This part of the building is employees only, so we're keeping it locked down right now. We don't want the press, and our competition, learning about it right now. But basically, we're learning to modify genetics. Upgrade them, even."

"Wait, do you mean like—?"

"Like superpowers? Like a super soldier?" Seth interrupted. Even he was looking interested.

Wayne chuckled and shook his head. "In theory, I suppose. We're just testing it right now. But in the future, who knows?"

"Wow, Dad. That is super cool," Seth said, peering into the window, though he quickly pulled away. "Anyway, wanna get going, Coop?"

"Sure," Cooper replied, finally looking away from the window. "I gotta do a couple chores before my folks get home anyway. It was good talking to you, Mr. Phillips. Thanks for showing us this."

Wayne shook Cooper's hand once more. "Of course, don't mention it. Stop by the house anytime you want."

"He knows that, Dad," Seth said, rolling his eyes. He had heard that line a million times.

Wayne chuckled. "I know. Anyway, see you boys later," Wayne said as he started to walk away.

"See you at home, Dad!" Seth called out as the two started to leave in a different direction.

"See you, son!"

Cooper and Seth caught an Uber, which Seth most graciously paid for, and Cooper was dropped off at his house. He grabbed the mail from the mailbox before heading inside. He quickly took out the trash and changed a load of laundry before grabbing a drink from the fridge. As he shut the refrigerator door, something pricked the back of his neck. Cooper instinctively slapped the back of his neck with his free hand. He turned around and looked down, finding a very small, black and blue spider laying on the floor. Freaked out, he rubbed the back of his neck, where the spider had bit him. Suddenly, his vision went blurry, and Cooper passed out, collapsing onto the floor.

Cooper was jolted awake sometime later by his mom pulling into the driveway. The sound of her brakes, more specifically. He looked down at the spider, which was still right where it had fallen, in the exact same position. He swiped it away, so his mom wouldn't see it. He quickly stood up as Amanda walked in the front door.

"Hey, bud. How was your first day?" Amanda asked as she walked into the kitchen, putting a few groceries away.

"Uh, it was good. Yeah, it was good," Cooper replied, trying to focus. He was freaking out internally. "I, uh, stopped by Phillips Tech with Seth after school."

"Oh, yeah? Was it fun?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it was pretty fun, I guess."

Amanda walked into the living room to put a couple of things away. When she returned, she stared at her son. "Are you feeling ok?"

Cooper nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"You just look a little pale. Don't need you getting sick right after your first day," Amanda said as she went back into the kitchen and started to work on dinner.

"Nah, I'm fine. I mean, I guess I'm kinda tired, but that's it," Cooper replied. Fatigue was starting to rapidly fill his body.

"Anxious night, huh?"

"Yeah. For sure," Cooper could barely keep his eyes open. "I'm gonna go take a nap, that ok?"

"Oh, sure, honey. I'll wake you when it's ready."

Cooper nodded and retreated to his room. He kicked off his shoes and took his shirt and pants off. As he did, his stomach started to cramp. Barely able to walk, he climbed in bed. The spider bite on his neck started to burn, as if it was on fire. But it didn't matter. Cooper was out within seconds.

Cooper suddenly woke up, covered in a cold sweat. He was breathing incredibly hard, as if he had just run a marathon. His vision was blurry, but it quickly fixed itself. But something was still wrong. Everything was upside down.

Cooper was sticking to the ceiling! He started to panic, and he fell. He instinctively twisted his body, landing on the floor below without a sound. Cooper continued to panic as he fell backwards, this time not as quiet.

"What the actual hell is going on? Am I dreaming?" Cooper asked himself. He slapped himself, but it was very real. "What's happening?" He asked himself. He took several heavy breaths and calmed himself down.

Cooper had been sticking to the ceiling. That was something that he and no other normal human should be able to do. That was something like a superhero would be able to do, and Cooper wasn't a superhero.

Cooper's mind drifted to the spider. He rubbed his neck where it had bitten him. Something clicked. Did he have abilities? If so, was it the spider that had given them to him? It made no sense, but complete sense at the same time.

His mind then drifted to Phillips Tech, where Cooper had seen the insects and arachnids being experimented on. How Mr. Phillips had said that they were modifying their genetics. And how, maybe in the future, it could be used on humans. What if they had accidentally did it? And nobody knew? Maybe the spider hitched a ride from there because of Cooper. It was a huge stretch, but it was the only thing Cooper could think of.

Cooper looked down at his bare chest. He had always been average when it came to his body. He was never too big or too small. Just average. But now, his muscles were defined. He could actually see them clearly. He wasn't ripped, but he was much more muscular than he had been. Was this because of the spider, too? Because he definitely hadn't been working out.

Cooper looked at his hands. He had been sticking to the ceiling. He stood up and pressed his hand against the wall. He could feel the suction between the wall and his hand. It was a very strange feeling. Not to mention the strange acrobatics he had performed as he had fallen.

Cooper quietly opened his bedroom door and walked out. He passed by his parents room, where he could see them both asleep. He moved to the kitchen, where the clock on the oven read 3:38 AM. He got down on his hands and knees and looked for where he had swiped the spider away. But it was gone. Nowhere in sight.

Cooper sighed. This had been the craziest night of his life. Had he been given superpowers? The answer was most likely yes. Was this some crazy kind of fate?

Cooper thought of the possibilities of him having superpowers, being a superhero. He already had a lot of respect for people who fought for the good of the law, with his dad being a police officer. Not to mention all the other superheroes out there. Maybe Cooper could do the same thing. He could use his powers for good and help fight crime. Help the innocent, defend those who can't defend themselves. He could be a hero.


	2. Origin Part 2

Cooper hadn't slept any last night. Once he had woke up, discovering his new superpowers, he had spent the rest of the night learning about them. He was incredibly strong, fast, and agile now. Not to mention his ability to stick to surfaces and climb them. Surprisingly, he found he wasn't able to spin webs, despite being bit by a genetically-modified spider, but that hadn't stopped Cooper from sketching some ideas when it came to that.

Cooper had decided not to take the bus to school this morning. Instead, he was freerunning along the rooftops, crawling up the walls, being much faster than the vehicles below. These rooftops were his playground, and he was having a blast.

As Cooper approached his high school, he didn't really want to be seen, as that would raise some serious suspicion. He decided to have some fun with it though, spotting an alley close to the school. As he got close to it, Cooper jumped, slowly flipping backwards as he rapidly got closer to the ground. Right before he hit the ground, he quickly wrapped up his flip, landing in a classic "superhero" pose. He was very quickly getting the hang of his new agility, and he loved it.

As Cooper left the alleyway, he saw Kate and Seth getting off the bus. He ran toward them, calling, "Seth! Kate! Hey!" He couldn't wait to tell them what had happened.

His two best friends turned around, smiles on their faces when they heard his voice. Cooper quickly caught up to them. As he approached them, some kind of realization hit him dead in the face. Why was he going to tell them about his powers? They were his best friends, of course he wanted to. But maybe it wasn't the right thing to do. Maybe the right thing to do would be to just keep this to himself. At least for now.

"Cooper? You ok?" Kate asked.

Cooper had stopped in his tracks, his face blank as he rapidly flipped through his thoughts. But Kate's voice brought him back. He threw his smile back on. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You just… I don't know. It seemed like something was wrong," Kate replied.

Cooper shook his head. "Nope. Everything's good."

Kate shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, "Ok, if you say so."

"Anyway," Seth said as the three started walking towards the doors of the school. "What's up, man? You weren't on the bus this morning."

"Yeah, about that," Cooper said. "I woke up real early this morning, and I decided to walk this morning. Help me wake up. You know, the cool air and all."

Seth nodded. "Hell yeah, man. Get in some exercise, too!"

"Yeah," Cooper chuckled. "How'd your volleyball thing go yesterday, Kate?"

Kate nodded. "Good. Our first game is in a few weeks. I'll have practice three, four times a week."

As they went into the school, they separated to their lockers, where the beginning of a normal school day started. While Cooper payed attention, his mind lay on other things, more specifically, a uniform. Every superhero had a uniform, in some shape or form. Cooper had developed a rough idea of what he wanted his to look like in his head, and once school was out, he was planning on buying the pieces to it. And that's exactly what he did.

Once school was out for the day, Cooper visited several different stores, gathering material and clothing pieces. He also stopped by the hardware store and a science supply store to grab some parts for his web-spinning project.

Several hours later, and much later than Cooper wanted to be awake, he had finished. His uniform consisted of his mask, which was blue with a black webbing pattern around the whole thing. The mask also had special lenses for eyes, similar to sunglass lenses, which were white with a bold, black outline.

He wore a black, long-sleeve compression shirt (sleeves usually pulled up), with a very dark gray hoodie, who's sleeves were cut off, on top. Cooper had also painted a crude, blue spider symbol on the front and back of the hoodie. He also wore black fingerless gloves to protect his palms.

On his legs, he chose a pair of black compression pants with a pair of black shorts, with blue accents, over them. He found a pair of thin, lightweight, black sneakers to cover his feet.

The spider that had bit Cooper and given him his abilities inspired his uniform color choice. Besides, black and blue looked cool, and was optimal for stealth, should he need it.

Cooper had also fixed his web-spinning problem. Since the spider bite hadn't granted him web powers, Cooper had decided to do it himself. After looking at too many guides to count, he had built himself twin devices, "web-shooters", which he would wear on his wrists. A button was placed on his palm, and when pressed, would fire a web. The webs themselves, had been much more difficult to make. He had searched many forums, and even dug through some old Phillips Tech archives to create a formula that worked. And after a lot of trial and error, he had finally gotten it. The webs were stored in cartridges, which would be secured on the web-shooter.

Cooper went to bed very satisfied, but even more eager for the next day.

The next day, Cooper got on the bus and sat beside Kate, who was in her usual spot. "Hey, Kate," he said as he plopped down beside her.

"No morning walk today?" She replied with a sly smile.

Cooper smiled. "No, not today." He pulled a notebook out of his backpack and started writing.

Kate recognized what it was, asking, "Did you not finish the homework yesterday?"

"It's only a couple of questions. I was pretty busy yesterday. Didn't get a lot of free time." It was the truth, as Cooper had been busy the day before, but not with what Kate probably thought.

"Oh, ok. Anyway, um… my parents are gonna have a cookout this weekend, and they asked if you and your parents wanted to come. I'm gonna ask Seth, too. So..do you wanna come?." Kate finished with a chuckle.

Cooper looked up from his notebook. "Sure. I mean, I don't think we're gonna be busy, but I'll ask to be sure. I'll text you after school and let you know," Cooper smiled.

Kate smiled back. "Ok," she said simply. She started playing with her fingers, a habit she'd always had. But Cooper noticed that, especially within the last couple years, she seemed to do it more often. Cooper didn't think anything of it.

By then, Seth had gotten on the bus, performing his daily ritual of squeezing his two friends together, then adjusting himself.

"What's up, dorks?" Seth asked as he pulled out his phone.

"Not much," Cooper replied, putting his notebook back in his backpack.

"Same old, same old," Kate replied. "Anyway, Seth. My parents are having a cookout this weekend. Think you and your folks can make it?"

Seth groaned. "Damn it, I'm sorry. Dad's got a meeting upstate this weekend, and he's taking me and Mom."

Kate shook her head. "It's fine, totally understandable. I'm sure we'll have more cookouts."

"Definitely. Rain check," Seth replied, going back to his phone.

At school, Cooper was getting ready to go to his first class. He had just finished putting his books up in his locker and was walking towards the classroom. Suddenly, a buzzing sensation started tingling all over his body, particularly in his head. Something was telling him to move. So he did.

Chase still clipped Cooper's leg, because even though he moved, Chase still fell down.

"Yo! What the hell was that, Cale?" Chase asked loudly as he stood up. His "crew" stood beside him, staring at Cooper.

"I- C'mon, I don't mean to. You tripped on my leg," Cooper replied, getting defensive.

"I was just gonna barely bump you, but you had to make me look stupid and trip me."

"No, I didn't mean to."

"Shut up, you nerd."

Chase grabbed at Cooper, but Cooper ducked under his arm, stepping aside. He had been fast, as Chase grabbed the air, looking very confused.

"You gonna hit me? I thought you were better than that," Cooper said.

"I wasn't, but lately, you've gotten pretty snotty. I think you deserve it," Chase glared.

"Then do it," Cooper said back, as if he was challenging him.

Chase seemed surprised by this, but his face quickly changed back. He took a quick jab towards Cooper. But the buzzing came back, and Cooper easily moved his head out of the way. As he did, he took the opportunity to give Chase a shove. It didn't take a lot of force.

As Chase hit the ground, several "oohs" came from students who had been watching. Cooper walked over to Chase and stood over him.

"You got lucky," Chase grumbled.

"Probably," Cooper replied, sticking his arm out.

Chase stared at Cooper's open hand, then reluctantly took it, standing up. "Watch yourself," Chase said as he walked away with his crew, them staring Cooper down.

Cooper sighed as adjusted his backpack and headed to class. He hadn't liked that he had attracted a crowd, but on the plus side, he had discovered a new power, one that would prove itself very useful.

Once school was over, Cooper was walking out with Seth and Kate.

"Coop, is it true you beat up Chase before first period?" Seth asked in awe.

"Wait, what? I had heard something, but I didn't think it was true," Kate said.

Cooper shook his head. "No, it's not true. I didn't beat him up."

"Well, you did something," Seth replied. "Because one, you didn't deny doing said something, and two, several people were talking about it. So, again, you did something."

Cooper sighed. "I tripped him. On accident. That's it."

Seth said, "But people said it was crazy! They said he tried to punch you!"

"Well, yeah, he did," Cooper said. "And I kinda moved and made him fall again. But that time it was a little more on purpose. Trust me, it was nothing glamorous."

"Glamorous or not, you tripped that asshat! Twice! Justice is sweet," Seth said dramatically, doing even more dramatic hand motions.

"It's good you stood up for yourself, at least," Kate said. "Anyway, Mom has to work late today, so I gotta pick up my brother and take him home. See you guys!"

"Bye."

"See ya."

"Yeah, I need to be going, too. I'll talk to you later, Seth," Cooper said as he started to leave.

Seth flashed him a peace sign before walking the other way.

But instead of going home, Cooper ran into an alley once he was out of sight of the school. He quickly pulled his uniform out of his backpack, which luckily took up only a small part of the inside. He pulled his normal clothes off, stuffing them inside the backpack. He put his compression shirt and pants on, followed by his shorts and sneakers. He put his hoodie on, then his gloves. He finished with his web-shooters and his mask.

Cooper grabbed his backpack before climbing up the side of the wall. Once he got to the top, he webbed his backpack to the roof, so it would stay. It was an easy spot he would remember.

Cooper took several deep breaths as he smiled. This was it. The beginning.

He fired a web-line to a neighboring building and jumped. He held on until he reached the peak of his swing, then let go. Cooper grinned under his mask. He shot another web at a different building. As he rapidly got closer, he shot another web in a different direction to avoid colliding with the building.

"WHOOOOO!"

This time, instead of changing directions, Cooper let go of the web, flying into the side of the building. He caught himself, using his powers to stick to the building. He climbed up and stood atop it. He chuckled. "This is amazing."

Cooper looked down at the streets below. He dove off, headed straight down. He shot a web towards a building above, pulling him forward and up. He lept through the air at the peak, shooting another web. He kept practicing his web-slinging, keeping an eye out for trouble.

A while later, Cooper was back at the building he had started at. He had been web-slinging a while now, and was quickly getting used to it. But now, he figured he'd do a little homework while he waited. He had also texted his mom and dad, who gave him the A-OK for the cookout with Kate and her family, so he texted her, too.

Suddenly, a loud bell alarm sounded from behind him, along with a couple of people yelling. Cooper threw his homework in his bag and ran over to the other side of the roof.

"He's getting robbed!" Someone yelled from below. A few people were staring at a small convenience store, while others rushed away.

Cooper jumped down, swinging to the other side, above the store.

A man wearing a beanie burst through the store's door, taking off down the street. He had a paper bag in his hand, which had the money he had stole inside.

Cooper shot a web-line from each of his web-shooters, hitting the robber in the leg and back, tripping him. Cooper jumped, landing on top of a nearby light post. He tied the webs to the post, suspending the man in the air. By then, the store worker who had been the one to get robbed stepped outside.

"Hey! What the hell is this?! Put me down!" The robber yelled as he twisted and turned.

Cooper shot a web at the paper bag, pulling it towards him. He tossed it down to the store worker, saying, "Call the cops."

"Al-already done," the worker replied, catching the bag.

"Hey! Hey! Put me down!" The robber yelled again. Cooper shot a web at his mouth, shutting him up. He shot another web and swung away, a few people clapping once he did.

Later, Cooper was swinging through the city, when he heard a woman screaming. He looked down below and saw a woman chasing after a man who was running away with a purse.

Cooper quickly pursued. When he was under the man, he shot a web-line at him, performing a "zip" type move. Cooper pulled himself towards the man, connecting with his back, slamming him into the ground. The impact knocked the man unconscious immediately. Cooper webbed him up before grabbing the purse and walking over to the woman, who had kept her distance. "Here's your purse, ma'am," Cooper said, holding the purse in front of him.

The woman still seemed scared, though she had a thankful look to her eye. She took her purse back, saying, "Thank you."

Cooper nodded and turned around, where several people were watching him. "Hey! Someone call the cops and get this scumbag outta here, yeah?" He called out before swinging away.

Hours later, Cooper was swinging towards his house, as it was nearing sunset. It had been a pretty good first day for his superhero business. But it wasn't over yet.

Sirens started blaring from a few blocks away. Cooper was almost home, but he knew he should help. He threw his backpack onto the nearest roof, sending a web behind it, before following the sirens.

Once he had caught up to the sirens, Cooper saw that three police cars were chasing a single car, swerving through all the different lanes, probably pushing 100mph.

Cooper swung ahead, getting just ahead of the runaway car. He let go of his web and landed right on the roof of the car, cracking all of the windows. "Pull the car over right now, man. It'll make everything easier," Cooper yelled.

"Go to hell!" The driver yelled back. He pulled out a handgun and started firing through the roof, where Cooper was.

The buzzing sensation, or spider-sense, as Cooper had dubbed it, went off like crazy. It guided him, helping him move from the path of the bullets. It still scared him though. He realized just how close he was to getting shot. He needed to stop this guy. He didn't need innocents getting hurt.

Cooper slid to the side, to where he was hanging from the driver's side. He glared from under his mask. The man stared back through the cracked window. Cooper punched the glass as hard as he could, shattering it, glass flying all over the man's face.

The man started yelling, his face bleeding. He hit the brakes, though he kept jerking the wheel. Brakes squealing, he started heading right for the footpath, where innocent people could be.

Cooper looked up, eyes wide. Luckily, there was only one person in the way. But then again, there was a person in the way. Cooper jumped off the car, landing on the side of the building. He desperately shot a web below, sticking the man with it in the shoulder. Cooper pulled up, hoping he wasn't too late.

Cooper watched the car below slammed into the brick wall, completely destroying the front of it. And the pedestrian hanging from the web, unharmed.

Cooper sighed in relief as he slowly lowered the pedestrian down. Cooper jumped down. "Are you alright?" He asked the pedestrian.

The man seemed like he was in shock. He just nodded.

"I'm sure an ambulance will be here soon, just in case," Cooper replied. He ran over to the wrecked car and checked on the man who had been driving. He was really banged up, but there didn't seem to be any serious injuries. Of course, Cooper wasn't a doctor, so he didn't know for sure.

By then, the police officers had stopped and gotten out. Before he left, Cooper got a glimpse of his father getting out of one of the cars. Cooper let a smile escape his lips as he swung away.

A couple hours later, Cooper was eating a late night bowl of cereal when his dad walked in the house. "Hey, Dad," Cooper smiled, sticking a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

James chuckled. "Hey, son," he replied. He groaned as he stretched his back.

"Long day?" Amanda asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"You have no idea," James said with a small chuckle.

Amanda wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, giving him a soft kiss. James wrapped his arms around Amanda's waist and kissed her back.

"God, I'm trying to eat here," Cooper joked, eating another spoonful.

Both of his parents laughed, James ruffling Cooper's hair as he sat down beside him. "Man, today… today was something else," James said with a sigh.

"How so?" Amanda asked.

"Well, you know how those real big cities have all those superheroes? I… well, I think we've got our own in town," James replied.

Cooper stopped mid-bite. He set his spoon down, eager to listen.

"Really?" Amanda said, sitting down in a free chair.

"Yeah. I saw him, too," James replied. "We were chasing a carjacker, and suddenly, this guy flies through the air and lands on the car. The guy in the car started firing shots through the roof, the guy on top dodging 'em."

"Dodging the bullets?" Cooper asked, trying not to seem suspicious.

"Yeah, like something out of Matrix. It was nuts. Anyway, something happened, right? The guy starts veering off the road and is heading straight for a guy standing there in the footpath."

"Oh my God," Amanda interjected.

"Right? That's exactly what me and Steve said. Anyway, the guy on the roof, jumps off, sticks to the side of the building, sticks! And he shot out like… webs from his hands. Pulled the dude up. Saved his life," James finished recounting the story.

Amanda had a shocked expression on her face. Cooper tried to put his best one on, but it was hard. He just wanted to bust out the goofiest grin ever.

"Wow, that's insane. Think it'll be on the news?" Amanda asked.

"Wouldn't be surprised. Superhero guy was apparently all over the place this evening," James replied, standing up. He walked over to a cabinet, pulled out a cup, and poured a glass of water.

Cooper stood up, too, putting his now empty bowl away. "That's crazy cool," he said, setting the bowl in the sink. "We have a superhero."

"Looks that way," James said, drinking his glass.

"Anyway, I'm gonna hit the sheets. Night, love you two," Cooper said, keeping his back to his parents as he tried to hide his huge grin.

"Night, bud."

"Goodnight! Love you too!"

Cooper climbed in bed and stared at the ceiling. He had saved somebody's life today. It was terrifying, but the end result, knowing that person got to live another day because of him, gave Cooper so much happiness. Not to mention his dad's recount of the incident.

As Cooper felt asleep that night, something flourished inside of him. Motivation.


	3. Origin Part 3

Don Booker sat in his car, outside of First Grand City Bank. Lenny Maddox sat in the passenger seat. They were scoping it out, waiting for the perfect opening. They waited patiently, and when the moment finally arrived, they climbed out of the car.

"Remember the plan? Don asked.

"Yeah," Lenny replied.

As they walked in the bank, they each got into a separate line. Don got up to the front first, which meant he had to do it. Both Don and Lenny pulled out pistols from the back of their waistbands, where they had been hidden. Lenny pistol-whipped the person in front of him, sending him to the ground.

"Hey. Hey! Take me to the vault!" Don yelled to the teller in front of him. The woman put her hands up, as scared as could be. Don reached over and pulled the woman over the counter. "Take me to the damn vault!" He repeated.

"Ok, ok! Just, please! Don't hurt me!" The woman said desperately.

"Any of you move, you're dead!" Lenny shouted. He stared moving anything he could in front of the doorway, while occasionally flaring his pistol around.

Amanda Cale slowly pressed the panic button from under her desk, trying desperately to not move or cause attention to herself.

* * *

"Have you heard of the superhero in town?"

"They're calling him Spider-Man."

"I saw him yesterday!"

"He saved like a ton of people!"

These were all things Cooper had heard about himself at school. It was now Friday. He had only been out in public twice, but people were starting the notice him. People had starting calling him Spider-Man, probably started on the news or something. Cooper wasn't going to lie, it was a pretty cool name.

The school bell suddenly rang out, signaling the end of the class. Cooper sighed with relief. One more class then it was lunch time. He headed for his locker to swap out his books.

While he was at his locker, Cooper felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and noticed it was his crime alert. Cooper had gotten a program that would alert him of crimes that were reported as being in progress.

The color from Cooper's face vanished as he read the alert. There was a robbery in progress at First Grand City Bank, the bank his mom worked at! He didn't care if he was in the middle of school. He had to get to his mom.

Cooper slammed his locker shut and headed in the opposite direction of everybody else. Once he was out of sight, he ran out the next door that led outside. Putting his backpack on, he swung off, headed for the bank.

As Cooper got closer to the bank, he noticed police cars ahead, sirens blaring. They drifted to a stop in front of the bank. Cones were immediately put up, positions being taken. Cooper watched his dad command everyone, but he could tell, James was terrified.

"They've got the door blocked off!"

"Try looking for a side or back door!"

"Be ready, everyone!"

Cooper landed on a roof nearby, switching into his Spider-Man uniform in record time. He slapped on his web-shooters, shooting a web at a window to the bank. He ran and pulled himself, breaking through the window. He landed on the bank floor, glass raining from above.

The first thing Cooper saw was the group of hostages on the floor, their hands on their heads. He saw his mom, who looked to be alright, which gave Cooper immense relief. The second thing he saw was the man guarding them. He was huge, being probably at least 6'7" and muscular.

The man raised his pistol and started firing at Cooper, who dodged the bullets easily. He didn't know if it was his spider-sense or if the guy just had bad aim, maybe both.

Cooper shot a few web-pellets at the man, though they didn't do much. Cooper charged, trying to deliver a kick to the man's chest. The man grabbed Cooper's leg and threw him. Cooper took a hard fall but quickly got back up. "C'mon, big guy. Let's fight," Cooper said, raising his fists.

The man glared back before shooting his pistol again, Cooper flipping out of the way. The man only got off a couple of shots before it clicked, out of ammo. He threw the gun at Cooper, who in turn caught it with a web and threw it back, hitting the man square in the face.

"AUGH!" The man yelled in pain as he grabbed his nose, which was now dripping with blood. He looked back up and charged at Cooper.

Cooper ran towards the man, sliding under his legs when he got close. Cooper fired a web towards the man, pulling himself onto his back. The man started tugging at his back, but Cooper was moving too much for him to grab him.

By then, a second man came rubbing from the back. He, too, was carrying a pistol, along with a big bag of money. "Lenny! You good?!" He called out.

"Shut up, Don! I've got it!" 'Lenny' yelled back.

Cooper noticed they were close to a wall. He reached around Lenny's body and shot a web at it, pulling forward as hard as he could. It had done the trick, as Lenny fell backward, but unfortunately, right on top of Cooper. Groaning loudly, Cooper pushed Lenny off of him. Lenny wasn't getting up.

The police outside had started smashing at the doors, trying to get them open.

"Oh, shit," Don said. Everything had fallen apart. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Cooper finally stood up, his body aching. Don turned to face him, raising his gun. Cooper acted quickly, firing a web and pulling the gun out of Don's hand. Cooper ran forward, using a web to propel himself faster. As he got closer, Don swung the bag of money in his hand. Cooper's spider-sense went off, but he was too slow. The bag collided with his head, sending him to the floor.

Dazed, Cooper looked up. Don had grabbed his gun again. Cooper shot a web-line at his leg and pulled, tripping Don. Though when he did this, the gun in Don's hand went off, and it must've ricocheted perfectly, because the chandelier that was above them came crashing down.

Cooper lunged out of the way, accidentally tripping, tumbling across the floor.

Don stood up to run, but got knocked aside by a part of the chandelier, hitting his head. The doors suddenly burst open, blinding sunlight flooding the bank. That, combined with his head injury, Don couldn't see a thing. He was scared. He raised his gun and fired a shot before blacking out.

Cooper looked up as his dad fell over, while Amanda's screams echoed through the air.

"Shots fired! Officer down!" A cop called out. "Get EMTs here now!"

"Already on their way," another cop said.

Amanda ran over to James, a cop holding her back. "Please! Let me through! That's my husband!" Amanda choked through sobs.

"Let her through."

The cop let Amanda through, who dropped down to the floor beside James. "It's going to be ok, honey," Amanda said quietly as her tears fell. She held James's hand, who squeezed hers, nodding softly.

A fellow cop kept pressure on James's gunshot wound. A few others handcuffed Lenny and Don, dragging their unconscious bodies out of the bank and into police cruisers. Many of the remaining officers helped the now free hostages.

Cooper felt tears fall down his face from under his mask as he watched everything unfold. He needed to see his father, but he couldn't while he had his uniform on. Not without revealing himself.

Cooper quickly crawled out of the same window he had broken into. He jumped onto the roof where his backpack was, changing back into his normal clothes, wiping his tears away as he did. As he leapt down, an ambulance parked in front of the bank.

Cooper left the alley, running around the corner. He leapt over a cone, but was stopped by two cops.

"Get outta here, kid. Shouldn't you be in school?" One of the officers asked.

"Officer James Cale is my dad," Cooper said, ignoring the question. "Please, I know what's happened. Let me through."

The two officers looked at each other. They decided to trust him, letting him through.

Cooper ran to the front of the bank. James was laying on a stretcher, being loaded into the ambulance. Amanda was following close behind.

"Dad." Cooper got as close as he could.

Janes didn't say anything. He just smiled weakly, giving the best thumbs up he could, before the ambulance doors were shut. Then they were off.

Amanda put her hands on Cooper's shoulders, kissing him on the head. "As far as they could tell, it hadn't hit anything major," Amanda sniffed. "They'll patch him up when they get to the hospital."

Cooper nodded, though he didn't speak.

"How did you get here?" Amanda asked.

"I… I just…," Cooper stuttered, his breath starting to shake.

Amanda turned her son around, cupping his face in her hands. "Hey. They said he had been lucky. He's going to be ok. You Cale boys are tough as nails," she said with a soft smile.

Cooper gave a small smile back, nodding.

"I'm going to run back inside, grab my things, give a quick statement. Then we'll drive up to the hospital and wait, ok?" Amanda said. She rubbed her son's cheek before going back in the bank.

Cooper sat on the curb as he waited for his mom, sighing deeply. There was only one person to blame for this. Himself.


	4. Origin Part 4 (Finale)

Cooper and Amanda sat in the waiting room of the hospital. They had been waiting for a couple of hours now.

Cooper had been beating himself up on the inside. He blamed himself for his dad getting shot. He should've taken out Don quicker, should've taken his gun, should've done something. But he didn't. Even if it was a lucky spot to get shot at, it still happened.

Cooper hadn't even been Spider-Man for three days yet, and he let his dad, his own father, get shot. He wasn't cut out to be a superhero. Why did he think he could? He was so stupid to even believe that.

A doctor walked into the waiting room. "Cale family?"

Cooper and Amanda got up, walking over to the doctor. "How is he?" Amanda asked.

"James is doing well. We've got him patched up, and he's in his own room now, #252," the doctor replied. "He'll be pretty sleepy for a couple more hours, and, if everything goes well, he'll be out of here by late tomorrow."

Amanda sighed with relief, while Cooper smiled for the first time in hours. "Thank you so much," Amanda said.

The doctor smiled and nodded, going on his way, while Cooper and Amanda went looking for James's room. When they got to it, they found him, sleeping soundly.

Amanda sat in a chair beside the bed, grabbing James's hand. "It's been quite a day, hasn't it?" She said with a sigh.

Cooper, who had found another chair, nodded. "I was so scared, Mom," Cooper said quietly. "I saw it was your bank, and I rushed over there, and then I saw Dad."

Amanda smiled softly, trying to comfort her son. "I know, honey. But we're all here. We're ok."

Cooper nodded again. After a minute, he asked, "Are you staying the night here?"

Amanda nodded. "Yeah."

"Want me to run to the house, grab your travel kit? I'll grab some of my stuff, too," Cooper said.

"Oh, Cooper, I can do that," Amanda replied.

"No, I know," Cooper said. "But I'll do it. It's the least I can do."

"Are you sure? It's a ways away."

"Positive. It's not a big deal."

"Ok. Thank you, Cooper," Amanda smiled.

Cooper smiled back before leaving. Once he left the hospital, he snuck into an alley, where he put on his web-shooters. He wasn't in the mood to use them, but it would be the fastest way there. Cooper got to his house, grabbed his mom's bag, put some extra clothes in his backpack, then headed back.

In the hospital elevator, Cooper felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it out, he saw it was his crime alert. His first instinct was to leave, but then he remembered. No more Spider-Man. He put his phone back in his pocket as he left the elevator.

Several hours later, Cooper was in the hospital room with his dad. Amanda had insisted on going to get some food, since Cooper had gotten their overnight things. His dad was watching tv, very happy he still got to watch the game. Cooper was on his phone. He decided he should let Seth and Kate know what was going on, since he hadn't said anything all day.

He texted their group chat:

 _Cooper: Hey guys. Idk if you've heard, but my dad was in an accident earlier today. He was at a bank robbery, when he got shot. He'll be ok, the bullet went through and through, didn't hit anything major. Just thought you guys should know._

Cooper locked his phone, but quickly got a text back.

 _Seth: omg dude. i wondered where u went. u sure he's good, like 100%?_

 _Cooper: Yeah, for sure. Doctors came in several times and monitored. He'll get to go home tomorrow actually._

 _Kate: Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Cooper. I've always been so scared of this happening. I'm glad he's going to be ok though!_

 _Cooper: Yeah, me too._

 _Seth: hey, me mom and dad will stop by before our flight tomorrow morning, if it's cool?_

Cooper looked up from his phone. "Hey, Dad? Is it ok if Seth and his parents stop by tomorrow morning? They'd like to see you before their flight."

James nodded. "Of course! As long as they bring me a gift. No, just joking. Don't let them bring a gift," he chuckled.

Cooper laughed, going back to his phone.

 _Cooper: Of course, man._

 _Seth: cool. thoughts and prayers for your dad, man._

 _Kate: I've got vb practice in the morning, but after, could I maybe stop by with my family?_

"Kate's family?" Cooper asked his dad out loud.

"Cooper, stop asking, you know I'm going to say yes," James chuckled.

Cooper laughed.

 _Cooper: Thanks, Seth. Of course, Kate. We'll be waiting. :) Thanks again. Both of you._

 _Seth: anytime bro anytime_

 _Kate: Of course :)_

Cooper locked his phone again. His mom showed back up, food in hand. The three ate, talked, and a while later, went to bed, pretty uncomfortably, but just happy they were together.

Cooper woke up several hours later. It was still dark out, judging by what Cooper could see from the cracks in the curtains. James was awake, too.

Cooper checked his phone, it reading 6:18 AM. Cooper looked back at his dad. "What's Mom doing?" Cooper asked.

"Getting coffee. Did you want some?" James replied.

Cooper shook his head. After a minute, he realized what his dad was doing. "Are you doing a crossword puzzle?"

Janes chuckled. "Yeah. Been a while since I've done one of these things."

Cooper stood up and stretched. He walked to the sink, fixing up his toothbrush. As he brushed, he walked over to his dad and studied his puzzle. "Perpetual," Cooper said, pointing to one of the rows.

James nodded. "Yeah, I was gonna put that next."

Cooper chuckled as he finished getting ready.

About an hour later, Cooper's phone went off again.

 _Seth: room #?_

 _Cooper: 252._

A few minutes later, a knock was heard on the door. Cooper went and opened it, Seth and his parents, Wayne and Kimberly, waiting outside. "Hey, thanks for coming," Cooper said. "Come on in."

The Phillips stepped in the room, walking over to James. Seth stayed behind and hugged Cooper. "You doing alright?" Seth asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, man," Cooper replied.

Seth clapped Cooper's back before joining the adults, who had already engaged in conversation. He gave Amanda a hug, asking, "How're you doing, Mrs. Cale?"

"I'm doing alright, thanks, Seth," Amanda smiled.

Seth turned towards James. "Officer, how're doing?" He asked.

James chuckled. "Fantastic."

"Well, I hate to be going, but we don't need to miss our flight," Wayne said a few minutes later. "It was good seeing you all."

"Thanks for coming. It was good catching up a bit," James replied.

Everyone said their goodbyes as the Phillips left, Seth flashing a peace sign before leaving.

A few hours later, Cooper was helping James with the crossword puzzles, while Amanda watched TV, occasionally watching her boys with a smile. While working on their twelfth puzzle, another knock was heard.

"That's probably Kate and her family," Cooper said, getting the door. It was them, Kate and her parents. Cooper shook her dad's hand, hugged her mom, answering the "how are you" questions.

"Hey, Cooper," Kate said once her parents went into the room.

"Hey."

Kate pulled Cooper into a hug. "You doing ok?" She asked as they embraced.

"Hanging in there," he replied. He couldn't help but notice the smell of her sweet perfume. It was strangely… soothing.

Kate went and said hello to Cooper's parents. After a minute, she walked back over to Cooper.

"I don't think we're gonna make it to the cookout," Cooper said.

Kate giggled. "I guess not. We'll do it another time."

"For sure. Listen, I've been in this room all morning. Would you wanna like… walk around?" Cooper asked.

"Sure. If you want," Kate replied.

Cooper grabbed his jacket and the two left, leaving the hospital, walking the nearby streets. It was cloudy and cool outside, the sky a light gray.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't let you guys know I left the school yesterday," Cooper said.

"Cooper, you have nothing to apologize for," Kate told him. "You were staying with your mom, probably worried sick about your dad."

Cooper sighed. "You have no idea. I just wish we never worried in the first place."

Kate put her hand on Cooper's shoulder. "Hey. Don't beat yourself up. There was nothing you could've done."

Cooper shrugged. If only she knew. He was tempted to tell her right then and there, but, again, something deep inside his head restrained him.

Kate grabbed Cooper's arm, guiding him to a bench, where the two sat down. "Do you remember a few years ago when my family and I were in a car crash?" She asked.

Cooper looked up at Kate. "Yeah. I think I do."

"Well, y'know, it wasn't major. Worst thing that happened was Dad's broken arm," Kate said. "Anyway, I remember being so scared to ride in a car after that. But a few weeks later, you and Seth wanted to me to go with you to the fair."

Cooper smiled. He remembered that.

"I didn't want to, because I was too scared to ride in the car to get there. But you two convinced me," Kate continued. "And it was one of the best days of my life."

Cooper's smile grew. That had been a good day. They had so much fun and had bonded so much while they were at that fair.

Kate had had a lot of fun that day, too, but it wasn't the reason she considered it one of the best days of her life. She considered it that, because it was the day she realized she liked Cooper Cale way more than a friend.

"Thanks, Kate. Seriously," Cooper said. "It was good to hear that."

"Of course," Kate replied, blushing slightly. "If you ever need anybody to talk to, I'm here."

Cooper nodded. He knew that, but it was nice to hear it.

By then, it started to lightly rain. Both Cooper and Kate started to laugh.

"We should probably get back," Cooper grinned.

Kate nodded in agreement, and the two took off, headed back for the hospital. After a few minutes they got back to James's room, wet from the rain. They went in the room, where their parents were still talking.

"If it hadn't of been for Spider-Man— oh, hey, kids," James said once he saw Cooper and Kate. "Got caught in the rain, huh?"

"Yeah," Cooper answered. But his dad had been talking about him, or Spider-Man. "Um, what were you just talking about?"

"Oh, I was just telling everyone how Spider-Man probably saved by life," James said.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" Cooper was extremely confused. His dad thought Spider-Man _saved_ him?!

"Well, he took down those two bank robbers, but not before one tagged me," James said. "But I think, if Spider-Man hadn't of been there, maybe he would've killed me. Or maybe not, I don't know. But I think Spider-Man played a part in me being here right now."

Cooper was speechless. He had never thought of it that way. He had been blaming himself this whole time, but what if his dad was right? What if he did prevent something worse from happening? He didn't want to stop being Spider-Man, but he felt he needed to.

James went back to talking to the rest of the adults, while Cooper and Kate sat at the two remaining chairs.

Cooper thought back to his first night of being Spider-Man, when he saved a man from being crushed by a car. That man lived because of Cooper. He didn't know if he had a family or not, but Cooper liked to think he did, and he got to see them again.

Cooper thought of all the other people he saved. He hadn't been Spider-Man for a long time, but the amount of people he saved was already in double digits. Cooper thought of all the other people he wouldn't be able to save if he quit. All the innocent people.

After what James said, it gave Cooper a whole new perspective. He needed to be Spider-Man, protect the innocent, and save them when they needed to be saved. It was his responsibility to do so.

Cooper decided right then and there, in that hospital room, that the Spider-Man wasn't gone. No. If anything, he was just getting started.


	5. Sting of the Scorpion Part 1

Nadia Alden strode through the hallways of her building, two bodyguards right behind her. She opened the door to her office, her two guards staying in the hall, guarding the door. A man was sitting in the chair across from her desk, two more bodyguards watching him.

The man in the chair stood up, greeting Nadia. "Ms. Alden, it's a pleasure."

"Sit," Nadia said as she took her own seat at the desk.

The man sat, waiting.

"Mr. Bradley—"

"Please, Ms. Alden," he interrupted. "Call me Gabriel."

"Mr. Bradley," Nadia repeated. "I got you out of prison. I didn't bring you here to talk. You owed my father a debt, did you not?"

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I did," he said more quietly. "My condolences."

"I'm giving you a chance to erase that debt," Nadia said. "All I need you to do is do a job for me."

Gabriel looked right at Nadia. He seemed interested.

"And if you succeed," Nadia continued. "You'll be paid handsomely, and your debt with my father will be cleared."

A smile crept onto Gabriel's lips. "I'll do it, whatever you want."

Now it was Nadia's turn to smile, but her smile was more mysterious. "Come with me," she said, standing up. She left her office, Gabriel and two guards following her. They got into an elevator, where Nadia typed in a passcode. The elevator went down, and when it opened, they were in a huge laboratory, technology and equipment everywhere.

"Wow," Gabriel said as Nadia led them through the lab. "I never knew AldenCorp had stuff like this."

"This is our experimental lab, where we experiment with different kinds of technology. It's off the books, the public doesn't know about it," Nadia replied. She led them to a part of the lab that had several different suits and armors.

"Why did you bring me down here, Ms. Alden?" Gabriel asked, his eyes still wondering around the lab.

"I'm sure you've heard of the new superhero in Grand City. Spider-Man, they're calling him," Nadia said.

"Yeah, I've heard of him. Some guys in my cell block were put in there because of him," Gabriel replied.

"I need him stopped. He's interfered with my father's business a couple of times. But before he can be stopped, we need to study him. We can't run in blind," Nadia explained. "That's where you come in."

"Me? You want me to study him?" Gabriel said. "I was never too good at studying."

Nadia motioned to the armors in front of them. "All of these have micro-cameras installed in them, with complex scanning algorithms built into the armors software," Nadia said. "So, I want you to wear one of these, and get close enough to Spider-Man for the algorithm to work."

"You want me to wear one of these things? Do I like… get to pick?" Gabriel asked.

"Out of these, yes. I'll let you wear the one you prefer," Nadia replied. "Take in mind you'll more than likely have to fight him."

Gabriel looked over the armors. One caught his eye in particular. "Hey," he said with a chuckle. "This one's got a tail. A _sharp_ tail." The suit he was looking at did indeed have a tail, which was green, like the rest of the armor. On the helmet, only the mouth would be visible, with orange eye lenses. SKRPN-MK1 was printed across the left breastplate. "Scorpion, eh? Sure looks the part," Gabriel said, looking at the tail again. He ran his finger along the blade, a grin starting to form.

"Will that be the one?" Nadia asked.

"Yeah," Gabriel replied. "This is the one."

* * *

Cooper sat with Seth and Kate during lunch. It had nearly been a couple of weeks since he promised himself he was going to continue being Spider-Man.

The three were working on their homework from their morning classes. They liked to do them at lunch so they would have less after school. Cooper liked doing this because it gave him more crime-fighting time.

"So, what's your guys' opinion on Spider-Man?" Seth asked, closing his notebook.

Cooper waited until he finished writing before answering. "He's stopping crime, so that's good," Cooper said. He always had to choose his answers to these kinds of questions carefully.

Kate had finished her work minutes earlier. She was arguably the most intelligent of the three. "Yeah, I think it's great he's stopping crime. But then there's the whole debate on even if you break the law with good intentions, is it still right? It's an interesting concept."

Cooper nodded. It was a concept he himself had wrestled with. But he decided that as long as people stayed safe, he'd break the law without hesitation, which he did.

"He seems like a kickass dude. It's really cool we have a superhero, like the really big cities," Seth said, eating a spoonful of food.

"Have either of you seen him yet?" Cooper asked, taking a drink.

Both Seth and Kate shook their heads, Seth saying, "Not in person. There's a few videos of him online, a couple are decent quality."

By then, the bell rang, telling them to get to their next class. The three dumped their trays, heading in opposite directions.

Once the school day was over, Cooper ran into the alley he always did after school. He quickly changed into his Spider-Man uniform, swinging away.

After a few minutes of patrolling, with nothing happening, Cooper stopped on a roof. He was about to pull out his phone, when his spider-sense went off. Quickly putting his phone away, Cooper stood up, alert. His spider-sense was still tingling, but it was weak. Cooper slowly started walking along the roof's perimeter, trying to find what triggered it. Eventually, the tingling stopped. Cooper sighed, turning around. But as soon as he did, his spider-sense went off, as strong as ever.

Cooper spun around, finding a blade coming right for him. He leapt backwards, but he was too slow. The blade slid across the left side of his body, slicing the skin. Cooper didn't even attempt landing on his feet, his hands instantly covering the cut. He could tell the cut wasn't deep, but it still hurt like hell. Cooper looked up, seeing someone climb over the ledge of the building, onto the roof.

The man was wearing some type of armor, which was different shades of green all around. The armor seemed to have a some kind of tail attached to the back, with a blade on the end. Cooper figured that's what cut him. The man had a helmet on, with orange eye lenses. His mouth was exposed, a nasty grin across it. "Sorry," the man said. "That was supposed to hurt a lot more."

Cooper pulled his hand away from his side, blood lightly covering his palm. "Don't worry about it," Cooper replied, standing up. "Just like a paper cut." The truth was it hurt _a lot_ more than a paper cut.

The man chuckled deeply. "Is there a proper name I can call you?" He asked, getting down in what was almost a sprinter stance.

"Spider-Man's fine," Cooper said, putting his fists up. "Or Spidey. The kids seem to like that one. What about yourself?"

"I'm Scorpion," the man replied, charging at Cooper.

"Yeah, the tail kinda gave that away," Cooper said, blocking a couple of Scorpion's punches. Scorpion swung his tail, but Cooper had seen this one coming, flipping backwards, out of the way. But it didn't come without consequences, his cut burning badly as he flipped. He couldn't let it stop him, though.

Scorpion charged again. He tried to tackle Cooper, but he flipped to the side, trying to ignore the stinging pain in his side. Cooper shot a web in Scorpion's face, delivering a kick to his stomach. Scorpion grunted as he stumbled backwards. He clawed at the webbing on his face, managing to get most of it. Scorpion threw several more punches at Cooper, who managed to dodge them. But while he was focusing on Scorpion's fists, he swung his tail around. Cooper's spider-sense quickly warned him, who grabbed the tail with both hands. Scorpion took advantage of this, too, delivering a powerful kick to Cooper's side, right on his cut.

Cooper dropped the tail, struggling to find his breath. He clutched his side as he stumbled backwards, dropping onto one knee.

Scorpion stood over Cooper. He breathed through his grin. "I never knew you'd be this pathetic," he said with a light chuckle.

Cooper looked up at Scorpion, glaring from under his mask. He quickly flipped backwards, kicking Scorpion right under the chin, stunning him. Cooper shot a web behind Scorpion, connecting to the next building over. He used this to propel himself, kicking Scorpion again in the stomach. Because of the momentum, Scorpion flew over the edge of the building, desperately using his tail to grab onto the fire escape.

As Scorpion fell over the edge, Cooper used the opportunity to swing away. He didn't want to, but the gash in his side was prohibiting him from fighting properly. He couldn't stop this guy the way he was now.

Scorpion climbed back onto the roof. He looked in every direction, but Spider-Man was gone. He punched the ground in frustration. He almost had him.

" _Bradley,_ "Nadia said from the headset. " _Return back to AldenCorp._ "

"I almost had him," Gabriel growled. "But the coward bailed."

" _I know. Come back, and we'll see what the algorithm picked up._ "

"Got it," Gabriel breathed, jumping the rooftops, heading back to AldenCorp.

Cooper swung into his neighborhood, where he ran along the rooftops. He stayed out of sight as much as possible, especially when he got to his house. Making sure nobody was around, he opened his bedroom window, climbing outside.

Cooper pulled off his gloves, mask, hoodie, and shirt. Throwing them on the floor, he went into the bathroom, where he began tending to the injury on his side. He began cleaning the cut with soap and water. Cooper winced, his side stinging. He had never had a gash this big before. Luckily, the more he cleaned it, the less it stung. Once he was done cleaning the cut, he found some gauze his parents kept in case of an emergency, wrapping it around his entire stomach. While the pain had mostly subsided, the whole left side of his abdomen was tender.

Cooper changed back into the clothes he had on earlier that day. He still had a couple of hours before his mom would be home. Deciding to use the time to his advantage, Cooper started working on getting the blood out of his uniform. He scrubbed out as much as he could, also using some of the things laying around in the laundry room. Having done as much as he could, he threw the contents of his uniform, minus his mask, shoes, and web-shooters, into the washer.

Later, after his uniform had been washed and dried, Cooper started repairing the rip in his shirt and hoodie. The sewing lessons his grandmother had attempted to teach him when he was younger were starting to prove themselves useful, even if he had to use the internet some, too.

By the time he was completely finished, the sky had been dark for hours. Before Cooper went to bed, he made himself a promise. He wasn't going to give Scorpion that kind of chance again.


	6. Sting of the Scorpion Part 2

Nadia hung up the phone, dialing another number. "Have Mr. Bradley meet me at Ground Zero," she said, hanging up again. She left her office, motioning for two guards to follow her. They went into the elevator, where Nadia typed in her passcode. In the laboratory, she walked over to a woman, who was sitting at a computer. "Dr. Kelly, I was told the algorithm had finished?" Nadia said.

"Ms. Alden," Dr. Kelly said, turning to face Nadia. "Yes, it finished mere minutes ago."

"And?"

Dr. Kelly gave a small sigh. "It's inconclusive. There just wasn't enough footage for the algorithm to give a full report."

Nadia gave a heavy sigh as she rubbed her forehead. "Ok, you said a _full_ report. What did it say?"

Dr. Kelly went back to the computer, clicking away. "No known fighting styles found. Agility seems to be on par with Olympic athletes. Approximate age is early twenties."

"That's it?"

"Unfortunately so."

By then, Gabriel entered the lab, accompanied by two guards. "You asked for me, Ms. Alden?" Gabriel said, walking over to Nadia and Dr. Kelly.

"Yes," Nadia motioned to the computer screen. "This is what the algorithm picked up."

"That's it?" Gabriel asked in disbelief as he read what was on the screen. "That's bullshit! The algorithm or whatever must be broken."

Dr. Kelly shook her head. "The algorithm is working just as expected. It needs enough footage to study to be able to give an accurate report."

Gabriel looked at Nadia. "I'm gonna have to find him again, aren't I?"

Nadia chewed on the inside of her lip as she read the computer screen over and over again. "Seems to look that way. I can't think of a way we can use this information to our advantage," Nadia said. "Will you be able to find him soon?"

Gabriel smirked. "Yeah. Not a problem."

* * *

When Cooper woke up the next morning, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the cut in his side had healed a lot overnight. In fact, he figured his powers had something to do with it. While it was still tender to the touch, it was a lot more manageable than it had the day before. He replaced the gauze before getting ready for school.

Cooper waved to his mom, who was driving away, while he walked down the street to the bus stop. As he was walking, his phone went off. Cooper pulled it out, his expression completely changing when he read the alert.

 _ARMORED MAN HOLDING HOSTAGE ATOP 1202 34TH STREET APARTMENT COMPLEX, POLICE EN ROUTE._

Attached was a low quality photo of the situation. Even with the low quality, Cooper could tell who it was.

"Scorpion," he said through gritted teeth. He knew he needed to get to school, but this was more important. Cooper ran across the street, into a nearby alley. Switching into his Spider-Man uniform, he swung off, headed for Scorpion.

When Cooper got close to Scorpion's location, he threw his backpack onto a nearby building, a web following it. He observed the situation as he got closer.

Cops were swarming the area below the apartment building. A news helicopter was flying around above. Scorpion was still on top of the apartment building, a hostage wrapped in his mechanical tail.

Cooper swung, flying through the air. He landed on the apartment building, right behind Scorpion. He would've taken a shot at him already, but he couldn't risk harming the hostage.

Scorpion turned around, a nasty grin on his face. "About time," he growled.

"Tell me about it," Cooper replied. "Couldn't hardly sleep last night thinking about how I was gonna kick your ass."

Scorpion chuckled deeply. "This is your chance then. Don't blow it."

"Who's your guest there?" Cooper asked, watching Scorpion carefully. "He doesn't seem very comfortable."

The hostage had been silent, probably out of fear. "H… h… help… help… please," he said quietly.

"Him?" Scorpion scoffed. "He's nobody. Just needed some security you'd show up."

 _That is beyond wrong_ , Cooper thought to himself. "Well, I'm here," Cooper said out loud. "Put him down."

"Sure," Scorpion chuckled. He swung his tail, throwing the man over the edge of the building, Cooper's eyes going wide under his mask. Cooper ran and dove over the edge, firing a web-line after the man. The web connected with the man's hand. Cooper reached out and used his powers to stick to the side of the building, stopping the man and him from falling. He slowly lowered the man down to the ground, where he was grabbed by cops and taken to an ambulance. Applause erupted from lots of people below.

Cooper climbed back up the building. As soon as his head poked over the edge, his spider-sense went crazy, Scorpion's tail headed right for his face. Cooper spun to the side, the blade flying past. Breathing heavily, he shot a web at Scorpion's face, temporarily blinding him, giving Cooper time to climb over the edge.

Scorpion ripped the webbing off of his face, growling. He swung his tail around, but Cooper jumped over it, firing another web, though Scorpion put his arm in front of his face, blocking it. He lunged at Cooper, tackling him to the ground. Cooper kicked Scorpion off, firing multiple webs at him. Using his tail to help him, Scorpion cut the webs off. "Those webs are a huge pain in the ass," he said.

"Good," Cooper replied. "If it pisses you off, it makes me happy."

Scorpion lunged again, performing a series of punches and kicks, but Cooper managed to block them all. Unfortunately, Cooper was starting to slow down, his side starting to pain him again. The next time Scorpion went for a kick, Cooper slid under his legs. He grabbed Scorpion's tail, managing to swing him across the roof.

"Don't ever touch the tail again," Scorpion growled, standing up.

Cooper didn't reply, just getting back into a fighting stance, his breathing heavy.

Scorpion charged but was interrupted by a group of cops busting down the door to the roof, guns drawn. Scorpion put his back to Cooper, facing the officers. Cooper didn't see his dad with them. It didn't surprise him. James was still taking it easy ever since he got shot, even if he was back at work.

"Hands up!" One of the cops yelled.

Scorpion slowly put his hands up. Cooper did too, to be safe, though his eyes didn't leave Scorpion. He watched the tail slowly move. Cooper knew what he Scorpion was going to do. He couldn't wait much longer. He jumped on Scorpion's back, holding him tight. His plan worked, as the tail was now focused on Cooper, trying to knock him off.

"Stop, now! Get on the ground!" A cop yelled.

"Please don't shoot!" Cooper yelled back, trying to stay on Scorpion's back, who was desperately trying to throw him off.

Cooper's spider-sense went off again. Trusting his instincts, he jumped off Scorpion's back.

Screaming, Scorpion's had stabbed himself with his own tail. He fell over the side of the building.

Cooper ran over to the edge and looked over. Scorpion was gone. How, Cooper didn't know. He looked back to the cops on the roof, who were also looking over the edge. "You're not going to arrest me, are you?" Cooper asked.

The one who had led them sighed. "No. You're a vigilante, so technically, I'm supposed to. But you were trying to take down that psycho," the officer said. "I believe you want to help, so I'm gonna let you pass."

Cooper smiled from under his mask. He didn't know the cop's name, but he seemed familiar. "Thank you, Officer," Cooper replied. "I've got places to be, but I'll be on the lookout for Scorpion."

"Scorpion? Makes sense."

Cooper chuckled. "That's what I said." Cooper gave a two-finger salute before running off the opposite side, swinging away. He grabbed his backpack before heading for school, which he was super late for.

Now in his normal clothes again, Cooper skidded to a halt in front of his English class door. Everybody inside stared at him, including the teacher. "I, uh… I overslept. I'm so sorry," Cooper said, walking into the room, taking his seat beside Kate.

"Don't let it happen again," the teacher said, continuing with the lesson.

 _Thank God, you're such a cool teacher_ , Cooper said to himself. He pulled out his notebook and began taking notes.

"You overslept?" Kate whispered as she wrote, too.

Cooper nodded. "Yeah," he whispered back.

"Really? You?"

"Yep."

Kate giggled softly. "That is the most out-of-character thing you have ever done."

Cooper cracked a smile. "I guess so. Trust me, it's not something I plan on doing again."

Kate continued writing, though she wondered. Sure, everybody oversleeps in their lifetime, but it wasn't just that. Cooper had seemed a little… different lately. She wondered if there was a reason. She didn't want to overstep her boundaries or pry into something she shouldn't, so she wasn't going to say anything. She just wondered.

* * *

"Son of a _bitch_!" Gabriel cursed. He was back at AldenCorp, while Dr. Kelly tended to his wound with an experimental healing pad.

"Yes, it'll hurt for a second. The pain will go away quickly," Dr. Kelly said, securing the pad to Gabriel's back.

Nadia watched the computer screen. They had hooked up the suit to it, letting the algorithm work and download its data to the servers. It was currently 0.01459% complete. Nadia sighed. "Is this the fastest it can go?" She asked.

Dr. Kelly nodded. "It's an experimental software and in its early stages. It would take a lot of upgrading to get it to go any quicker. Upgrading it would take a lot of time in itself," she replied, walking back over to Nadia and the computer.

"Hey, I think we're gonna get a lot of info this time," Gabriel said, rubbing his back. "I was with him a lot longer this time. It has to pick up something useful."

The three stared at the computer screen, watching the numbers slowly increase.

"It'll probably be done by tomorrow morning," Dr. Kelly said.

After a minute, Nadia said, "This Spider-Man is definitely interesting."

"If by interesting, you mean a total pain in the ass," Gabriel said. "Then sure, he's interesting."

"No, I mean… how did he get his abilities? What are they exactly? Just… a lot to ponder on," Nadia said, mainly thinking out loud.

"Who cares?" Gabriel groaned as he stretched. "He'll be gone soon, and he'll be better off for it."

"I suppose," Nadia replied. Plans started running through her head. If one plan was destined to fail, she was already thinking of a backup for it. She had lots of fresh ideas, just in case.


	7. Sting of the Scorpion Part 3 (Finale)

Nadia and Gabriel, along with two guards, stood in the elevator, waiting for it to reach Ground Zero. Dr. Kelly had called Nadia, letting her know the algorithm had finished. When the elevator doors opened, Dr. Kelly was waiting for them, a big smile on her face.

"Good news?" Gabriel asked, while Nadia's face lit up with hope.

"Very," Dr. Kelly replied, leading them to the computer. On the screen was a list of information on Spider-Man, particularly his fighting style and habits while in battle. It also has his approximate height and weight, but not much else.

"He favors using the right side of his body. Uses kicks more than hand attacks, gadgets on wrists appear homemade," Nadia read off.

"Doc, I thought you said this was good news," Gabriel said, looking a little confused.

"No," Nadia interrupted. "This works. We can use this."

* * *

As they left school for the day, Cooper, Kate, and Seth arrived at a bowling alley. They had decided to hang out for a little while, since they hadn't a lot lately. They bought a lane, gathered bowling balls, and ordered drinks.

Seth went first, knocking down seven pins his first bowl. It left him with three pins spread out evenly. "Aw, dude, come on!" Seth groaned. He managed to knock down one pin his second bowl.

"Ooh, tough luck," Kate said, standing up. "Let me show you how it's done." She grabbed her ball and heaved it down the alley. She only knocked down six pins the first time, but for her second bowl, she knocked down three, the last bouncing a little before settling. She smirked a little as she went back to their table.

"Luck!" Seth joked. Kate shook her head as she laughed.

Cooper stood up and grabbed his ball. He had never been the greatest at bowling, though he didn't mind playing. He set himself up, swinging the ball forward, just like he always had. The ball absolutely flew down the lane, knocking every pin down. Cooper panicked deep down. He wasn't known for getting strikes in bowling, and he just accidentally used his powers to get one, in front of his friends. He slowly turned around and walked back to the table.

"Holy shit! That was insane!" Seth exclaimed, clapping Cooper on the back. "Who knew you had it in ya?" Seth grabbed his ball and took his turn.

"That was impressive, not gonna lie," Kate said, taking a drink.

"Yeah. I guess it was," Cooper replied, still trying to get over his mistake.

A game and a half later, Cooper felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and read it. "I've gotta go," he said, standing up quickly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill, throwing it on the counter. He ran out the door before either of his friends could say anything.

"He's been acting very different lately," Kate said, continuing to watch the door. "Have you noticed?"

"Yeah," Seth replied. "I mean, I figured it was because of his old man, y'know?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Just… where does he run off to?"

Cooper, now in his Spider-Man uniform, swung towards the location his phone had shown. Scorpion had been spotted climbing up the Skye Tower, the tallest building in Grand City. He had a feeling Scorpion was waiting for him. He hoped so, because he wasn't going to let Scorpion go again.

Cooper arrived at the Skye Tower, swinging into it, sticking. He started sprinting up the side of the building, something he had only messed with. Now was a better time than ever. The closer he got to the top, the more he had to tell himself to not look down.

Scorpion looked down and saw Spider-Man running towards him. He grinned nastily.

Cooper saw Scorpion looking at him. This was it. He fired a web at Scorpion, who dodged it. Scorpion jumped down towards Cooper, landing by the ledge. When Cooper got close, Scorpion slammed his tail into the side of the building, Cooper narrowly getting out of the way.

Cooper jumped up onto the roof. He shot a web-line towards Scorpion, pulling him forwards. He went in for a kick, but Scorpion caught it and threw him into a roof vent. Scorpion smirked. Spider-Man had tried to kick with his right leg.

Cooper groaned as he stood up. "So, Scorpion, I've been meaning to ask," he said, dodging a tail attack. "How does that tail work exactly?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Scorpion replied, swinging his tail again.

"I would, actually," Cooper said, flipping out of the way. Cooper had an idea on how the tail worked, but he was trying to see if he could bait Scorpion into spilling. He controlled the tail, that was for sure. It didn't work on its own. Cooper figured the tail was connected via a neural interface somehow.

Scorpion charged at Cooper, who flipped over him and landed on his back. "Not again!" Scorpion yelled, trying to grab at Cooper.

While trying to hang on, Cooper found a spot on the back of Scorpion's neck, a panel-looking piece of armor. Another thin strip of armor ran all the way down the tail, connecting to the panel. _This is it_ , Cooper said to himself. He started pulling at the panel.

"NO!" Scorpion bellowed.

With his spider-sense blazing, Cooper was grabbed by Scorpion's tail and pulled around. He should've been paying attention, but he was too focused on the panel. His arm stuck, Cooper desperately tried freeing himself, to no avail.

"Don't touch that, freak," Scorpion growled.

Cooper glared. Scorpion had his arm wrapped up but not his legs. He should've paid attention. Cooper kicked Scorpion in the face, making him yell in both pain and frustration. Squeezing his arm, Scorpion threw Cooper off the roof as hard as he could.

Even though his arm was aching now, Cooper's plan had worked. He fired a web-line, grabbing Scorpion and pulling him off with him. Scorpion quickly stopped himself, using his tail as an anchor. Cooper web-zipped to the side of the building.

Cooper started running towards Scorpion. Scorpion's tail was currently out of commission, or at least, if he didn't want to fall, it was. Cooper started taking punches and kicks towards Scorpion, who surprisingly blocked a lot of them. When Scorpion threw a punch, Cooper shot a web at his fist and flipped over him, holding his arm straitjacket-style. Cooper punched the panel on the back of Scorpion's neck until it broke, Scorpion yelling each time. He reached his hand inside, pulling the wires, the tail going limp but still holding.

"No. No, my tail. You… idiot," Scorpion breathed heavily.

Cooper climbed off of Scorpion's back and sighed. He had done it, a smile appearing from under his mask. But it didn't last long.

Scorpion's tail suddenly gave out, and he started to fall.

"NO!" Both Cooper and Scorpion screamed in unison. As terrible as Scorpion was, Cooper didn't think he deserved to die.

Cooper started running down the building as fast as he could, but Scorpion was falling fast. Cooper jumped and started to freefall, gaining speed. He shot webs from both web-shooters, both connecting to Scorpion. Cooper pulled. He caught up to Scorpion, grabbing and holding him. He shot another web at the building, trying to stop them. Luckily, they came to a stop, with not a lot of room left for error. Cooper webbed up Scorpion, just to be safe, and took him down to the ground, where the police were waiting.

Scorpion was stripped of his suit, handcuffed, and put in the back of a police car. "This isn't over, Spider-Man!" He yelled as he was pushed inside. "We'll get you!"

"We?" Cooper said to himself, out loud. He sat atop a light post, watching. _What does he mean "we"?_ Cooper asked himself. _Was he working with somebody?_

Scorpion's suit was loaded into a transport truck. It, along with Scorpion, were taken away.

"Spider-Man."

Cooper looked down and saw his dad standing below, looking up at him.

"Thanks for your help," James said. "I honestly don't know if we'd been able to take him down."

"Of course, Officer," Cooper replied. "He was a threat to innocent people. He needed to be stopped."

James gave a nod, tipping his hat. He turned around and left, leaving Cooper with a grin.

* * *

The truck that was carrying Scorpion's armor was suddenly flipped over, a powerful force flipping it. The two officers in the front were instantly knocked unconscious from the crash. The door to access the back was pulled off. The officers that were in the back with the armor were also unconscious. The armor was quickly taken.

Grady sat at his console, overlooking the many screens. He smiled mischievously when he saw the van show up on one of the screens. He ran to the garage door and opened it, letting the van back into the lab, shutting it when it got in. Three men got out of the van, all wearing suits.

"Did you get the armor?" Grady asked.

One of the men opened the van, revealing Scorpion's armor. "Yeah," Carson replied, pulling his yellow mask off. "We got it."

* * *

Author's Notes:

First off, thank you to everyone who has read this so far, has favorited and followed, and reviewed. Second off, I'm going to take a quick hiatus to finish writing the next arc, as I like to have the entire arc finished before I publish any of it. Who knows, I may just go on a writing frenzy and finish it quickly, but I may not. So if not, that's why. Thanks again!


	8. Enforcement Part 1

Wayne stood in one of the many laboratories in Phillips Tech, overlooking the scientists. He had been told that they were making very good progress on a project, and he decided to come and see for himself. "This is good, Darren," he said, talking to the lead scientist on the project. "You and your team should be proud."

"Thank you, Mr. Phillips. Yes, the team has done well," Darren replied.

Wayne started walking around the laboratory, watching the other scientists work, Darren following close behind. They stopped, watching a scientist who was studying some type of gas.

"We've attempted turning the formula into gas form, this being the result," Darren said. "It's in early phases right now, though. The formula becomes extremely unpredictable when it's in gaseous form, something we're trying to work out."

"Hmm. Yes, gas would be the way to go. Keep working on this," Wayne said.

Darren wrote something on his clipboard. "Yes, sir," he said as they walked away.

Suddenly, the scientist behind them gasped. Wayne and Darren turned around. The glass that the gas was contained behind had cracked. Darren rushed over to the scientist, Wayne following. "What's happening?" Darren asked.

"I don't know, sir!" The scientist replied. "The pressure must be wrong inside the containment unit!"

"Then fix it!" Darren said.

"Sir, if the pressure is changed, that gas is getting out, one way or another. If we breathe it in, it'll probably kill us. It's not done!" The scientist replied frantically.

The glass started cracking again, rapidly.

"Everybody! Out! We have a containment breach!" Darren ordered. The scientists started flooding out the door.

With one last crack, the glass shattered, the green-tinted gas spreading through the air.

"Quick! Mr. Phillips! The gas masks!" Darren yelled. He grabbed a gas mask, putting it on, securing it. The other scientists nearby also grabbed masks. They all headed for the door.

Wayne grabbed a mask, putting it on. The mask was loose, it flopping around his face. Wayne grabbed the strap to secure the mask, but it wasn't budging. "C'mon, you piece of shit," Wayne said sharply. As he did, he pulled the strap hard, securing the mask. But not before some of the gas leaked into the mask, Wayne accidentally breathing it in. He coughed harshly as he ran out the door, it getting shut behind him.

"Everybody! Keep your masks on! We're evacuating the wing of the building!"

The entire wing of the building was evacuated, a team being sent in to clear the gas. Everybody was led to another part of the building.

"Are you alright, Mr. Phillips?" Darren asked, pulling off his mask.

Wayne pulled off his own gas mask. "Yeah. I think I'm alright." Wayne kept telling himself he didn't inhale any of the gas. He hadn't smelled anything, though he didn't know if the gas had a smell. Besides, he felt fine. Better, even.

* * *

Cooper and Kate sat outside their high school. Seth had left earlier that day, hearing about an accident at Phillips Tech.

"C'mon, pick up," Cooper said as his phone, which was on speaker, dialed.

" _Hello?"_ Seth answered.

"Hey, man. Kate and I just heard about what happened. Is your dad ok?" Cooper said.

" _Yeah. Yeah, Dad's ok. He said everybody got out quick. Doctors said he's good,"_ Seth replied.

"Oh, thank, God," Kate said, a sigh escaping.

Cooper smiled. "That's great, man. I'm glad everything's ok."

" _Yeah, me too. Hey, thanks for checking in. It means a lot."_

"Of course, man," Cooper replied.

"Let us know if you need anything," Kate added.

Seth chuckled over the phone. _"Of course, thanks again,"_ he said before hanging up.

"Oh, that's relieving. I was honestly really worried. Those lab accidents are always so unpredictable," Kate said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Cooper replied, thinking about the lab creation that gave him his powers. He had never found the spider that bit him. He occasionally wondered where it went.

Kate looked at her phone, saying, "I gotta get to practice. I'll see you later!"

"Yeah, see ya," Cooper said as Kate ran back into the school. He went into a nearby alley. Cooper was glad it was starting to cool off outside, as it gave him an excuse to wear long sleeves and pants. He liked this because he could easily wear most of his Spider-Man uniform underneath, making switching in and out of it easier. He put the rest of his uniform on, swinging into the city.

* * *

Grady stood around a table with Carson, Beau, and Alex. They were reviewing their plans. "Does everybody understand and know the building layout?" Grady asked.

The three men nodded. "Yeah," Carson replied with his thick southern accent. "How much longer, Grady? You know we're itching to do it." Beau and Alex looked at Grady, a hungry look on their faces.

"Soon, gentlemen," Grady smiled. "Very soon."

* * *

Cooper, as Spider-Man, watched as a group of three thugs stood around an ATM machine, two stood with guns, guarding, while the other was trying to pry open the ATM with a crowbar. Civilians screaming, Cooper swooped in. He fired two web-lines, pulling the guns out of the thugs' hands.

"Hey! It's that Spider-Freak!" One of the thugs yelled as Cooper landed on the ground in front of them.

"It's _Spider-Man_ , guys. C'mon," Cooper replied, dodging a punch by flipping over the thug. He fired another web at the thug's foot, tripping him.

"C'mon, man, get him!" The one with the crowbar exclaimed, still trying to pry open the machine.

"Yeah, man," Cooper said, jumping up and sticking on the wall. "Get me, because this is way too easy."

The other thug started running towards one of the fallen guns but was quickly grabbed by a web. Cooper pulled on the web, making the thug fall. Cooper jumped off the building, landing on the one with the crowbar, his legs around his head. Cooper pulled backwards, slamming the thug into the ground. Cooper fired a web and grabbed the second thug, then swung him into the first thug, who had gotten up. Cooper strung them together, webbing them to the ground. "Somebody call the cops, yeah?" Cooper called out.

"Already done!" A civilian yelled.

Cooper gave a thumbs up and swung away. As he was swinging, his phone suddenly went off. He pulled it out and read the Caller ID. It was Kate. Cooper swung to the nearest rooftop and answered the phone. "Hey, Kate, what's up?" He said, pulling up his mask to his nose.

" _Hey, Cooper. So, um… I have a volleyball game tomorrow, and it's against the Jaguars, so… y'know, it's kinda a big deal for the team. Anyway, I was wondering if you could make it,"_ Kate said over the phone, and after a short pause, she added, _"Seth, too, obviously."_

"That's after school tomorrow, right?" Cooper asked, sitting on the edge of the building.

" _Yeah, at 5:00."_

"Yeah, totally. I'll be there," Cooper said.

" _Oh, great! Awesome. Um… ok! I'll see you later,"_ Kate said excitedly. It was very obvious how happy Kate was at his answer, but, being totally oblivious, Cooper had no idea.

"Yeah, see ya," Cooper replied, hanging up. As soon as he hung up, his crime alert went off. There was a mugging not far from where he was. Cooper pulled down his mask with a sly smile, and he headed off towards the crime.


	9. Enforcement Part 2

Cooper sat in the gymnasium with Seth, while Kate was down on the gym floor with the rest of her team, as the game started. Kate's team, the Thunderbolts, started off strong, scoring the first few points, but the Jaguars started to slowly catch up. It was actually very exciting. Cooper, who really wasn't the biggest sports fan in the world, found himself invested in the game. Several minutes later, the Thunderbolts won the first set, the crowd erupting into cheers.

"Hey, this is pretty sweet, right? And I'm not just talking about the game," Seth said as he nudged Cooper, a sly grin plastered onto his face.

Cooper rolled his eyes at his friend's perverted comment, but he couldn't help chuckling. "Yeah, _the game_ is pretty good," he said. He felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it out of his pocket, he read the alert. His heart sunk. He didn't want to leave, but it was his responsibility. "Hey, I'll be back," he told Seth. Cooper jumped up from his seat and left before Seth could say anything.

* * *

Several minutes earlier, Carson, Beau, and Alex were putting their suits on, getting ready. Carson pulled on his gauntlets, securing them on his forearms. Beau pulled on his uniform, sheathing two katanas on his back. Alex also pulled on his uniform, securing his armor plates and loading his gun.

"Remember," Grady said. "Once you're in, I must leave. We'll meet up at the rendezvous point."

"Got it," Carson said, pulling his mask on, his eyes glaring from behind the green lenses.

Beau pulled his own mask on, powering up his suit. Alex put his helmet on, securing his gun to his arm-mount. "Let's do this," Beau said. Alex nodded.

Carson opened the door to the armored truck they had used as cover and ran out, Beau and Alex right behind him. Grady tore out of the property as sirens started to whine throughout the air.

* * *

Cooper, now in his Spider-Man uniform, swung through the air, headed for DDX, a company similar to Phillips Tech, but on a smaller scale. The alert on his phone had said that there had been a major break in. When Cooper got to DDX, there was smoke all through the air. Police, EMS, and firefighters were crawling all over the place.

Cooper landed on the roof of the building, climbing through a busted window. His spider-sense lightly went off as a vibration shook the building. It wasn't a large vibration, but it was noticeable. Cooper followed the vibrations, as they periodically went off.

"They're in the server room! All available teams, head for the server room now!"

Cooper crawled along the ceiling, following the SWAT teams, until they reached a door that had been blocked off by debris. "Is this the server room?" Cooper called down to the SWAT.

Several SWAT raised their weapons towards him, while others just gasped. Eventually, one answered, "Yeah, this is it. Only way in, too. Security reasons or whatever."

Cooper looked around. "Not the only way," he said, spying an air vent. He climbed into the vent, making his way to the server room. He could hear some of the SWAT team questioning his trust. It didn't surprise him.

As he got closer, Cooper started to hear voices. He eventually found another vent, looking down. It was definitely the server room, as consoles and computer panels lined the entire room. Dust floated through the air, making it difficult to see and breathe, as the siren continued to blare. Cooper dropped down into the room, where three people wearing suits were waiting for him.

"Dammit, the Spider-Man's here!" One of them yelled. His uniform was different shades of blue, with katanas on his back.

"Keep him busy, both of you! I'll take care of this," another said. His uniform was yellow, and he had some kind of metal gauntlets on his arms. Both of them spoke with southern accents.

The first guy pulled out his katanas, while the third guy, who was much bigger than the others, lifted his arm and started firing a gun that was attached to it.

Cooper flipped out of the way, dodging the bullets. "Hey, you guys look pretty cool. Got a name? A group name? You gotta have a group name," Cooper said, flipping and swinging towards the men, but when he went for a kick, he was knocked out of the air by the big guy.

"Hold your fire," Katana-guy said. He sprinted towards Cooper, katanas drawn.

Cooper barely got up in time to flip out of the way of a slash. "Y'know, you've gotta be more careful. Those things are sharp," he said, firing a web at the bad guy's face. He fired another web, swinging him across the room.

The other guy started firing his gun again, Cooper narrowly missing the bullets once more. He flipped and rolled forward, jumping towards the man, but the man charged with his shoulder, sending Cooper backwards. He slowly got back up, groaning.

"Shoot him!" The one in the yellow suit yelled.

"I'm out," the other said as he fidgeted with his gun.

Cooper used this to his advantage, charging forward once more, until his spider-sense started blaring. He turned and narrowly missed getting decapitated by the guy with the katanas. "Man, what did I tell you?" Cooper said. He shot a web at the man's hands and flipped over him, landing on his back, similarly to what he did to Scorpion. As he did, the man pressed something on his suit. An energy surge emitted from the suit, sending Cooper flying through the air. He hit the ceiling above and fell back down, his body limp.

"Got it," the man in yellow said. He stood between the others, pocketing a small drive.

Cooper breathed heavily as he groaned. He slowly stood up, looking towards the three. He slouched as he held his hip.

"You wanted to know our names?" The one in yellow said, the outline of a smirk showing through his mask. "I'm Shocker, and this is Ricochet and Ox," he said, pointing to the guy with the katanas and the guy with the gun, respectively. "And we're the fuckin' Enforcers." He raised his arms and fired a shockwave from his gauntlets, hitting Cooper.

When Cooper opened his eyes again, he was across the room and all three of the men were gone. He slowly got up, limping through the room. There was a big hole in the ceiling with debris leading up to it. They probably used it to escape. "The Enforcers," Cooper muttered to himself. He climbed the debris and got on the roof, looking, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Eventually, Cooper made it back to the school. In the alley, he found several large bruises all over his body, and he had a concussion, for sure. Luckily, his face hadn't taken a beating, so he didn't need to come up with a bullshit excuse. He put his regular clothes back on and went back into the gym, taking back his seat beside Seth, trying to hide his limp.

"Dude, where have you been?" Seth asked, looking at Cooper, who was trying his best not to wince at the pain.

"I, uh… forgot something," Cooper replied.

"Whatever, man. This is awesome!" Seth said, redirecting his attention to the game. "Jaguars won the last set, but this last one's close, bro! Whoever wins this one takes it!"

The ball was spiked over the net, a gasp coming from the crowd. Kate dove and hit it back up, barely keeping it off the floor. Another teammate set it up and Ashlyn, the team captain, spiked it over, the ball hitting the ground, winning the game. The crowd went crazy, cheering and screaming as the team jumped and hugged each other, celebrating their victory.

Later, Cooper and Seth walked down onto the court once everything calmed down. Kate ran out from the locker room, her grin shining.

"Oh, man, Kate! That was so badass!" Seth exclaimed.

"Thanks," Kate replied, still grinning. "I thought I missed it, but I managed to keep it up. My teammates did a great job reacting to it. It was a great team effort all around."

"Man, if that's not on the news, I'm gonna have to talk to some people," Seth said.

Both Cooper and Kate laughed. "Yeah, Kate, that was pretty incredible. I'm glad I got to see that," Cooper said.

"I'm glad you came," Kate replied, pulling Cooper into a hug. "It means a lot, really."

"Of course," Cooper said, hugging back his best friend. While he was very excited and happy for Kate, Cooper couldn't deny that his mind lay somewhere else. He was thinking about the Enforcers. He was thinking about their tech, their suits, their possible motives, but most importantly, he was thinking about how to stop them.

* * *

Carson, Beau, and Alex caught up with Grady, who was waiting in an alley. He had ditched the armored truck and got in a minivan. The Enforcers took off their uniforms, stashing them in the back of the van. They climbed in the vehicle, Grady driving away. They quickly got back to Grady's laboratory.

"Here you go, man," Carson said, once inside. He handed the drive to Grady.

Grady took the drive and plugged it into his main computer, letting the files download. Once it was done, he smirked, looking at all the information he now had.

"Damn, that's a lot of files," Beau said, looking at the computer screen.

"Yes," Grady said. He had the Enforcers download some of DDX's secret military project files. The drive had also implanted a virus into their system, erasing everything after it had downloaded what was needed. "And they're mine now."


	10. Enforcement Part 3

Wayne sat in his office, typing away at his computer, answering emails. Suddenly, he felt a scratchy feeling deep in his throat. He instinctively started coughing, but it just made the feeling worse. He stood up from his desk, still coughing, headed for the bathroom attached to his office. He started coughing aggressively, falling onto one knee. His vision was blurry, his body shaking. He gave one last heave, breathing heavily after. Wayne pulled his hand away from his mouth, looking at the blood on his palm. As he started to come to, he started to feel refreshed, much better. It was strange, considering what had just happened.

 _Don't fight it. Let it take its course,_ a voice seemed to say inside Wayne's head. It wasn't really a voice. Just thoughts, mostly. He didn't know where they came from, though.

Wayne stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He took a deep breath, trying to relax himself before going into the bathroom to clean himself up.

* * *

"And you're sure this is what you want?" Grady asked, looking at the other three.

"Yeah," Carson replied. "We know some guys that can take them off our hands for a good price. We'll even float you a cut."

After they had succeeded in getting files from DDX, Grady had told the Enforcers that he would help them with a personal heist of theirs as thanks. They had told him about their plan to rob a painting exhibit, where a couple of high-priced paintings were on display.

Grady nodded. "Ok. Tell me one more time, then I'll do some research."

* * *

Cooper, Kate, and Seth sat at their table in the school cafeteria, working on some of their homework while they ate. After a few minutes, Kate closed her notebook. "Hey, so, there's going to be a party at Ashlyn's house tonight in celebration of our win against the Jaguars. Would you guys wanna come?" She asked.

"Hell, yeah! I'm so down! What time?" Seth replied with a huge grin.

"Around nine, or so."

"I'll be there," Seth said, returning to his notebook, almost jittery. He didn't go to a lot of parties, but when he did, he always loved it.

"What about you, Cooper?" Kate asked.

Cooper quickly scribbled down the answer to a question. "Um… she lives down on Avenue Q, right? Kind of near that park?"

Kate nodded. "Mm-hmm. Around there."

Cooper nodded back. "Uh, I'll check in with the ol' parents to make sure, but if they know you guys are there, I'm sure it'll be fine." To be honest, Cooper knew his parents would be ok with it. He had been to parties before. He just wasn't the biggest fan. And then there was the Spider-Man thing.

"Ok, great. Um… well, I'll hope to see you two there," Kate said. The bell quickly rang, the three splitting up to their respective classes.

Several hours later, Cooper sat atop a house, across the street from Ashlyn's home. The place was buzzing with people, an EDM track thumping from inside. He had already seen both Kate and Seth enter the house. He had went ahead and asked his parents about going, who, not to his surprise, were fine with going.

"Just no alcohol! Or narcotics!" His dad had said before Cooper left, which was fine with him. Cooper didn't care for anything like that much.

Cooper's phone vibrated. It was a text from Kate, asking if he was coming. He quickly texted back, saying he was almost there. He pocketed his phone, jumping down into the alley, walking around to the house.

"Hey, Coop! About time you got here!" Seth said as soon as Cooper walked through the door. He put his arm around Coop, walking him through the house, where the music nearly vibrated the house. "Need a drink?"

Cooper shook his head. "No, thanks. Dad would make me take a breathalyzer test if he smelled even the tiniest bit of alcohol on me."

Seth laughed. "True that. Hey, let's go find Kate, she's here somewhere."

Seth led them into the backyard, which had been decorated with lights, giving it a really chill vibe. Kate was there, talking to a couple of people. "Hey, Kate!" Seth called out, walking over to her.

Kate turned around, smiling. "Hey, guys! Hey, Cooper," she said, walking over to them. "Glad you could make it."

"Yeah, I'm having a great time," Seth said. "Anyway, I'll be back. I'm gonna see if I can get some numbers." Seth left, leaving Cooper and Kate.

"I really am glad you came," Kate said, glancing down at her shoes.

"Sure, it's no problem. I should try to socialize anyway," Cooper replied.

"Um… would you like a drink? Non-alcoholic, obviously," Kate said, looking back up.

Cooper smiled. "Nah. Thanks, though. You still haven't given in to the peer pressure?"

Kate chuckled. "Nope. My parents would kill me anyway."

"You're telling me," Cooper laughed.

The two sat in a couple of chairs in the backyard, engaging in conversation. They talked for a while, enjoying themselves.

"Hey… Cooper," Kate said after a bit. "Is everything ok? You just… have seemed a little different lately. And if it's none of my business, just say."

Cooper looked at Kate. He had feared this conversation. He wasn't stupid. He knew his friends would eventually realize something was different with him. Nobody had brought it up, luckily for him. Until now. "Yeah. I'm fine," Cooper said simply. Technically, he wasn't lying. He was ok, but he did seem different, because he was.

Kate nodded. "Ok. Just making sure everything's alright."

Cooper nodded back. He wished he could tell his friends about Spider-Man, but after Scorpion and now those Enforcers bozos, Cooper couldn't put his friends in danger. Not even potentially.

"Hey," Kate said, changing the subject. "I'm gonna go inside, be social. Wanna come?"

"Uh, sure, yeah," Cooper replied. "I'll catch up with you."

Kate smiled, standing up and walking inside.

Cooper took a minute to himself. As he stood up, his phone went off. Cooper pulled it out, sighing heavily as he read it. He looked longingly towards the house, before jumping the fence when nobody was looking.

At the painting exhibit, the Enforcers were each carrying a painting, each painting worth nearly ten million dollars. They were carrying them to a hole they had blown in the floor, leading to the sewers underneath.

Cooper watched from the skylight. "These guys again," he muttered. He wasn't very fond of the Enforcers, mainly because they beat the absolute shit out of him. But he was more prepared this time. He jumped down, firing a web at Shocker's painting, pulling it from his hands. As Shocker looked up, Cooper slammed into his chest, knocking him down hard.

"You!" Ox yelled, swinging his gun at Cooper, who flipped out of the way. Instead of hitting Spider-Man, Ox accidentally hit Ricochet, knocking him and his painting to the ground.

Ricochet got up with a groan. "Watch it, Ox! Get the Spider, not me!" He yelled.

Ox turned towards Spider-Man, raising his gun. Cooper rapid-fired webs towards the weapon, covering Ox's arm in webbing. Ox pulled the trigger, but the gun just clicked, getting jammed from all of the webbing. Cooper smirked from under his mask as he pulled the painting out of Ox's hands.

By then, Shocker had gotten up. He aimed his gauntlets at Spider-Man, who was charging at Ox. He fired a shockwave, but Spider-Man flipped, avoiding it. He landed on Ox's back, Shocker unable to fire without hitting Ox.

Cooper hoped his plan would work. He jumped up into the air, off of Ox's back. As expected, Shocker aimed his gauntlets towards him. Cooper shot two web-lines at Ox, yelling as he used all of his strength to pull him into the air. And Shocker fired a shockwave, hitting Ox midair, Cooper swinging out of the way.

Ox fell to the ground unconscious, Ricochet running out of the way, tripping.

"I-I… A-... Ox, I'm… I'm sorry," Shocker said quietly. He was in disbelief. He had just let Spider-Man fool him, letting him knockout his partner, _his friend_. He raised his gauntlets, only to be knocked down by a foot to the face, his vision going blurry.

Cooper turned and faced Ricochet, who was standing up. Cooper had to be extra careful against Ricochet, as it was because of him that started the chain of events that got his ass kicked their last encounter. Ricochet's suit had gave off some kind of energy surge last time, but Cooper wondered why he didn't use it now. Cooper thought maybe the energy surge acted as a countermeasure, only allowing him to use it effectively in extremely close ranges. It was only a guess, though.

Ricochet unsheathed his katanas, staring down Cooper. He charged at Cooper, who charged right back. Cooper fired a web at Ricochet's face, blinding him. He flipped flipped over him, firing two web-lines at the katanas, pulling them out of Ricochet's hands. Cooper swung, delivering a quick kick to Ricochet, knocking him away. He fired several webs, keeping Ricochet webbed to the ground.

Shocker's vision cleared, and he stood up. He saw both of his partners down. He looked towards Spider-Man, rage in his eyes. He raised his gauntlets, firing.

Cooper's spider-sense went off while his back was turned, and he flipped out of the way, narrowly missing the shockwave. He turned around and fired a web towards Shocker. Except a web didn't fire. All the web-shooter did was click. Cooper tried the other one, but it did the same thing. He had used all the webbing in his cartridges on Ricochet. _No, no, no! Bad timing_ , Cooper said to himself, looking up at Shocker.

Shocker grinned under his mask, raising his gauntlets again. He fired, Spider-Man taking off, running around, trying to avoid every shockwave Shocker fired.

Eventually, Cooper stopped behind a pillar. He unzipped a pocket on his shorts, pulling out a fresh web-cartridge. As he went to put it on his web-shooter, his spider-sense went off again. He was suddenly thrown backwards, along with the rubble of the pillar.

"You dare… hurt my friends like that?" Shocker yelled, breathing heavily. "You're gonna regret it."

"I already do," Cooper joked. He reached forward and grabbed his web-cartridge, which was laying only inches away. He put it on one of his web-shooters, securing it on. He stood up, grunting, pushing some of the rubble off of his back. His spider-sense went off yet again. He jumped up into the air, avoiding the blast. He fired a web and web-zipped towards Shocker, tackling him to the ground. He started trying to land punches, but Shocker kept his arms up, Cooper pounding the gauntlets.

When he had a fraction of a second of time, Shocker grabbed Spider-Man by the collar, pulling him close. "This isn't over," he growled. He then fired his damaged gauntlets, an unstable shockwave sending Spider-Man across the room. Not only did he hit Spider-Man, but the blast also affected Shocker. The gauntlets were normally set to deliver a concentrated shockwave, but the damage to them had broken them, making them extremely unstable. He stood up, his uniform shredded.

Sirens wailed from outside the exhibit, blue and red bouncing around the walls from the windows. Cops were heard, moving around. They started pounding at the main door.

Shocker looked at Ricochet and Ox. He didn't want to, but he couldn't rescue them. Not now. He wanted to finish Spider-Man off, but the cops would catch him. He glared in Spider-Man's direction before grabbing one of the paintings nearby. "This isn't over," he repeated, but not to Spider-Man. This time it was for his partners. Shocker jumped into the hole in the ground, taking off.

Cooper slowly stood up, his body shaking. He was exhausted and everything hurt. He held onto his side as he slowly walked.

The cops then burst through the front door, guns drawn. Cooper put his hands up, even if it hurt to do so.

"Stand down, men," James said, holstering his pistol, while the other cops did, too.

Cooper put his hands down. "It was three guys. They call themselves the Enforcers. I managed to take down two of them," Cooper said, putting his hand back on his side.

"And the third?" James asked.

"He got away," Cooper sighed. "Their tech… it's impressive and hard to combat. I almost had him."

"Better none than some," James said. It was something he had told Cooper a lot growing up. "Appreciate the help, Spider-Man."

Cooper nodded. "Likewise, Officer. I'm gonna… go. I need painkillers or something," he said, walking out of the door. He painfully started to jog before swinging away.

Cooper stopped by Ashlyn's house, where the party was still going, but there wasn't as much people as there had been. He went inside, where he saw Seth sitting on the couch, talking to a few people. He also saw Kate, who was talking to Ashlyn. He slowly approached Kate, trying to act as normal as possible.

Ashlyn noticed Cooper approaching them, giving a nod towards him, letting Kate know.

Kate turned around, looking at Cooper. She smiled and walked over to him. "Hey," she said softly. "I missed you leave. Everything alright?"

Cooper nodded. "Yeah. I just… I had to… go... For a little bit," Cooper said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really," Kate replied. "You have personal things to deal with. Everybody does."

Cooper smiled. "Thanks."

Kate nodded. "I think we're gonna play a few games. Care to join us?" She asked.

"Uh, sure. Yeah, that seems good," Cooper replied. He walked over with Kate to the living room, where he managed to have a good time the rest of the night, despite the pain aching inside of him.

* * *

Carson sat in Grady's lab, in nothing but his underwear. He was drinking from a bottle, his torn uniform sitting a few feet away. "How did he know we were there, Grady?" Carson asked, looking up at Grady, who was sitting in a chair, watching.

"I learned about it too late," Grady replied. "I shut off the main power to the building, where I thought all the alarms were disabled, but I didn't know about the emergency backup generators. If I would've had more time, I would've found them."

Carson banged the back of his head against the wall. "We shouldn't have rushed it. That was so stupid," he said before taking another swig. "We have to get them back, Grady. Get them back, then we finish the damn Spider-Man."

"Well, you did recover one painting," Grady started.

"Yeah."

"Sell it to your contacts. We'll invest the money in some equipment. I've been working on a plan, in case something like this ever happened," Grady said.

Carson looked up. "You can get them back?"

Grady nodded. "Yes, but it'll take a little time and money."

Carson stood up. "I'll have the painting sold tomorrow," he said with determination in his voice. "And this'll work?"

"Yes," Grady said with a sly smirk. "It will."


	11. Enforcement Part 4 (Finale)

Several days later, Cooper was sitting at the table with his parents, eating breakfast before school and work. His parents had the news on, paying the most attention to the weather forecast.

" _In other news, two prisoners escaped from the Grand City East Prison earlier today,_ " the newscaster said. Both Cooper and James diverted their attention to the TV. " _Beau Anderson and Alexander Hernandez were previously arrested under charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, property damage, and others. They were last seen before a temporary power outage at the prison, where they were later found gone._ "

"Son of a bitch," James cursed.

"James," Amanda said, looking up at her husband.

"Sorry, babe," James replied with a small smile. "I just hate when this crap happens. Spider-Man helped put these guys away several days ago."

 _Ricochet and Ox_ , Cooper realized. He gritted his teeth. He understood his dad's frustration.

"Anyway," James said, standing up. "I gotta get down to the station, try to work out this mess."

"Have a good day. And stay safe," Amanda said as her husband walked towards the front door.

"I will," James replied.

"Bye, Dad," Cooper called out.

"See ya, son," James said, closing the door behind him, his car pulling out not long after.

"I better get to school," Cooper said as he stood up. He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door.

"Love you!" Amanda called.

"Love you too," Cooper replied, headed for the bus stop.

On the bus, Cooper took his usual seat beside Kate. A few minutes later, Seth got on, taking his spot.

"Yo, guys," Seth said as the bus started moving again.

"What's up, Seth?" Cooper replied, not looking up from his phone.

"Are you going to the carnival on Halloween?" Seth asked.

"The one on 13th Street?" Kate asked.

Seth nodded.

"Most of the team is going, so yeah, I'll probably be there," Kate replied.

"Oh, sweet! What about you, Coop?"

"Um," Cooper started, looking up from his phone. "Yeah, I'll try to make it."

"Nice, man. You better," Seth chuckled, leaning back in his seat as they got closer to the school.

Cooper went back to his phone, trying carefully to hide it from his friends. He typed on his keyboard for a few seconds before hitting enter. He had searched up public records regarding Beau Anderson and Alexander Hernandez, trying to learn as much as he could. From what he could gather, they started out small-time in Texas, but they managed to climb up the chain some along the way. As he continued looking through records, Cooper noticed a pattern. There were frequent mentions of a third person in the reports, somebody named Carson Shaw. Eventually, Cooper stumbled across a photo of the three, and something clicked. Cooper looked right into Carson's eyes in the photo, and he could practically see the green goggles and yellow mask over his face. Carson was Shocker.

Cooper locked his phone, looking out the window while his friends talked beside him. Determination fueling him, Cooper wasn't going to give the Enforcers a second chance.

* * *

Carson led Beau and Alex into Grady's lab, who was watching his many computer screens.

"You sure we're good?" Carson asked, shutting the big door behind them.

"Yes. No patrols anywhere near this area," Grady replied, swinging around in his chair.

"Listen, Grady. Thanks for helping us get out. According to Carson, we couldn't have done it without you," Beau said with Alex nodding in agreement.

"Of course, gentlemen. We're partners. We help each other," Grady replied.

After a pause, Carson spoke. "Alright, I know we just got back, but we have another job: taking down Spider-Man. You in or not?"

Dark smiles crept up on Beau and Alex's lips.

"Revenge, huh? On the Spider?" Beau said. "I'm in."

"Alex?" Carson asked.

Alex nodded.

"It's settled, then," Carson said, his own smile showing up. "We'll plan, and we won't be stupid this time. We won't rush things. We'll carefully plan everything out. The Spider-Man won't have a chance."

* * *

A few days later, on Halloween night, Cooper walked into the carnival on 13th Street. He quickly spotted Seth, who had his face painted like an evil clown.

"Hey, Coop!" Seth exclaimed, running up to his friend. "Aw, you're not wearing a costume? No paint, nothing?"

Cooper chuckled. "Nah, I'm boring," he said, looking down at his own bright orange jack-o-lantern t-shirt.

Seth chuckled. "Whatever, man. Hey, let's go find Kate. She's at a booth with the rest of the volleyball team," he said, leading his friend along. They quickly found Kate, who was at a booth with her team, selling treats, such as caramel apples, cookies, drinks, and candy. The whole team was wearing costumes, Kate wearing skeleton clothes with her face painted white. "Hey, Katie, what's up?!" Seth exclaimed as they approached the booth.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I swear, if you call me Katie again, I'll strangle you," she said with a sly smile. "Hey, Cooper, glad you could make it."

"Yeah, of course," Cooper replied. "Got a fundraiser going?"

"Yeah, coach suggested it. To help a little," Kate said. "Want anything?"

Cooper shrugged, grabbing a soda. He forked over a couple of dollars, cracking the soda open.

"Thanks," Kate smiled. "Anyway, I'll take a break here in a minute if you guys wanna do anything."

"Sure," Seth replied, paying for a caramel apple, Cooper nodding as well. "We'll meet you in a bit."

Kate nodded. "Ok, see you soon."

Cooper and Seth walked around the carnival, mostly just looking around. Eventually, they stopped at a skee-ball game. "Ten bucks says I win," Seth said, smirking.

Cooper laughed. "Alright, let's do it," he replied. They paid the carny, who gave them their skee-balls. Once the score reset, they were off. Cooper started rolling the balls, Seth his. Cooper got lucky and made a couple in high score holes early, but Seth managed to hit the highest score hole once. They quickly rolled the rest of the balls, trying to beat the other. "Yes!" Cooper exclaimed as Seth's last ball landed ten points. Cooper had won by 30. "Pay up. This was your idea," he said, smirking.

"That was bullshit," Seth laughed, pulling out his wallet. He slapped a crisp Hamilton in Cooper's palm.

"Get beat, Seth?" Kate said, walking up to the two boys. She had washed the white makeup off her face.

"He got lucky," Seth grinned.

Cooper laughed, shaking his head. "Whatever, dude."

"So what now?" Seth asked, still smiling.

"I've heard the view from the Ferris wheel is nice," Kate said. "If you guys wanna do that."

"Sure, sounds fine with me," Cooper replied.

"Well, let's go!" Seth said, already walking ahead. "Shit, tell Ashlyn to meet us there, Kate."

Kate shook her head with a laugh. "She's _working_ , Seth."

"Ehhh," Seth replied, swiping his hand. "I'll get her someday."

At the Ferris wheel, Kate gave them each a ticket, and they got in line. Once they got down the line, Seth looked back. Cooper noticed him staring. "What's up?" Cooper asked.

Seth bit his lip. "Damn, she's bad," he said. "I'll catch up with you guys!" Seth ran out of line and went to the back, where he got right behind another girl, who he soon started a conversation with.

Cooper chuckled, watching.

"He's such a flirt," Kate said with a smile.

"Yeah," Cooper replied. "If he gets a girlfriend, I'll legitimately be concerned."

Kate laughed. "It'll probably knock some sense into him."

By then, the two got to the front of the line, getting inside the gondola, which slowly took them up.

"I can't believe it's already Halloween," Kate said, looking out at the ground, seeing all of the decorations. "Time flies."

"Yeah," Cooper said, also looking out. "Christmas will be here before we know it."

"Yeah," Kate said, looking back at Cooper. She loved the way the dark sky seemed to glow behind him, the Ferris wheel lights giving off a soft glow. It was a very peaceful, intimate setting. She wanted to kiss him right there, but she was too afraid. Afraid of rejection.

Cooper turned and locked eyes with Kate. Something sparked deep within him, but he ignored it, pushing it down. He forced his eyes to look down at their shoes, feeling somewhat awkward. "So, um… how's the fundraiser? It seems cool," he said, looking back up, but he still didn't make eye contact.

"Uh, no, it's good. It's good," Kate replied, also avoiding eye contact now.

"That's good," Cooper said. He wanted to slap himself. What the hell was wrong with him? He was struggling to have a conversation, something he never had problems with. "So what're you doing after the carnival? I mean, I know it's still going on for a couple of hours, but I'm just… wondering."

Kate's face lit up some, but of course, Cooper didn't notice. "Nothing. Nothing. Some of my teammates are going to that diner around the block. I thought about going," Kate said. "You're more than welcome to come. If you want."

"Yeah. I mean, I'll try," Cooper replied with a smile. "Thanks."

Kate nodded, swiping a loose strand of hair out of her face, trying to hide her cheeks growing red.

The two spent the next couple of minutes making small talk before getting off the Ferris wheel, Seth getting off soon after.

"No girl?" Cooper asked as Seth walked back over to the two.

"Nope," Seth replied. "She's been texting a guy, so that was a pretty awkward ride."

Both Cooper and Kate laughed. "You need to settle down, man," Cooper joked.

Seth laughed back. "Maybe someday, dude," he said as he started walking, Kate following him.

Cooper started to follow, but he stopped when his phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and read it, looking back up at his friends when he was done. They hadn't noticed yet. Cooper put his phone back in his pocket and ran in the opposite direction, headed for the alley where he stashed his backpack.

Cooper, now in his Spider-Man uniform, landed on the roof of the museum exhibit. It was the same one from several days before, when he had taken down Ricochet and Ox. Something was very off. Cooper jumped down through the broken skylight, landing quietly on the floor below. He slowly started walking around, when his spider-sense went off. He turned just in time for the green blast to hit him in the face.

Shocker emerged from the shadows with a chuckle. "Did you think we'd quit that easy?" He called out.

"We?" Cooper asked, getting up. He only saw Shocker, at least until his spider-sense went off again. He flew through the air, getting hit in the back from Ox.

Ricochet ran out from the shadows, jumping and grabbing Cooper in midair, using his shockwave from his suit to send Cooper the other direction.

Cooper coughed as he looked up. All three of the Enforcers stood in front of him.

"You made me abandon my team," Shocker growled.

"I didn't _make_ you," Cooper replied, standing up with a groan. "You could've went to jail with them. Would've made me happier."

Shocker chuckled. "Yeah. But then I wouldn't be here, doing this," he said raised his arms, pointing his gauntlets right at Cooper.

Cooper quickly took his chance. He fired a web-line at Shocker's arm, flipping to the side, pulling the web at an angle. This made Shocker's arm swing right into Ricochet's face, knocking him down.

Ox raised his gun and started firing shots towards Cooper, who swung and flipped to avoid the bullets. Cooper swung towards the Enforcers, kicking Shocker, who was trying to pull the web off of his gauntlets, into Ox, knocking both of them down.

By then, Ricochet got back up, unsheathing his katanas. He threw one, cutting Spider-Man's web, making him fall to the down. Ricochet sprinted towards Spider-Man and lunged, swinging his remaining katana.

Cooper flipped backwards, narrowly missing the katana blade. As he flipped, he fired a quick web at Ricochet's face, temporary blinding him.

"NO MORE GAMES!" Shocker yelled as he got up. He fired a shockwave, hitting Spider-Man as he landed his flip. He flew across the room, hitting a stone column. Shocker walked over to the fallen Spider, Ox following, Ricochet cutting the web off of his face.

Cooper could hear the Enforcers in front of him. He started to get up, but he was knocked back against the column by Ox's large foot. Cooper looked up, his body aching.

Ricochet stepped forward, setting his foot against Cooper's chest. He held his remaining katana against his neck.

"Like I said," Shocker breathed. "No more games."

"Agreed," Cooper replied quietly. He kicked Ricochet in the stomach, pushing himself up. He grabbed the katana by the blade, kicking Ricochet again, making him lose the sword, while Ricochet fell backwards.

By then, the sound of sirens were heard in the distance, quickly getting louder.

Cooper threw the sword backwards. He fired a web-line at Ox's gun and slid under his legs, pulling Ox down. Cooper shot a web at Shocker's face, pulling it downwards, connecting it with his knee. Shocker stumbled backwards, his green goggles shattered.

Ricochet jumped up and charged Spider-Man, tackling him to the ground. He quickly flipped Spider-Man around, activating his shockwave. He hit the ceiling above and fell, narrowly catching himself with a web.

Shocker slowly got up. He aimed his gauntlets and screamed, letting his rage boil over.

Cooper was hit by the shockwave, flying into the wall behind him. Every time he tried to move, he was hit by another shockwave. He wasn't quick enough, the fatigue getting the better of him.

The cops started pounding at the door, trying to enter the building.

"Beau! Get Alex and get out of here!" Shocker yelled, continuing the fire shockwaves.

Ricochet ran over to Ox and helped him up. "What about you?" Ricochet yelled back.

"I'll be behind you. And if I'm not, I'll be dead," Shocker growled.

Ricochet and Ox retreated to the massive hole in the ground, where they jumped in.

Cooper fired a web towards a chunk of debris. When he had an opportune moment, he swung it towards Shocker, knocking him to the ground. Cooper sprinted towards Shocker and tackled him as he tried to stand up. All it took was three good punches to knock Shocker unconscious.

Cooper climbed off of Shocker, his body aching. He slowly stood up and fired a web at the skylight, pulling himself up just as the police ran in.

On the roof, Cooper laid on his back as he listened to the cops below take care of business. He was honestly about to fall asleep until he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He figured it was either Seth or Kate, but it wasn't. Cooper sat up as he read the crime alert. As much as it pained him, he jumped up and swung off.

Cooper approached DDX, which was already smoking from the fire. Firefighters were running around, trying to put them out, while EMS were tending to the injured. Cooper climbed in the same window he had when the Enforcers were here. Climbing along the ceiling, Cooper trusted his gut and crawled towards the server room.

When he eventually found the door to the server room, it was barricaded with various debris. Cooper crawled through the same air vent, jumping down into the room.

In the room, a man stood at one of the consoles, typing away. He was wearing armor, along with a hood that covered his head. The armor was different shades of gray and dark green, along with hits of purple. The man chuckled as Cooper cautiously moved towards him. "I wondered when you'd get here," the man said, his voice slightly higher than expected.

"What are you doing here?" Cooper asked, stopping. "These servers were wiped. There's nothing to get."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The main servers were wiped, yes. But not their secret server that they have buried away. That's where they have their dirty secrets," the man chuckled deeply.

This guy was legitimately scaring Cooper. He didn't know why, but whenever he spoke, the hair on his arms stood up. He couldn't be trusted. "What kind of secrets?"

"Projects that the public, and especially the government, wouldn't want to know about. They're quite extreme, if you ask me," the man turned his head just enough for Cooper to catch a glance of a glowing orange eye coming from his mask. "And now they're mine."

Cooper continued watching. How did this guy know all of this? "Who are you?" He asked. It was a stupid question. As if he would say.

The man chuckled. "Now, now. I can't tell mine if you don't spill yours. It's why we wear these things," he replied, tapping on his metal mask. "But if you must call me something, I think the Goblin describes me quite well." He unplugged a drive from the console and turned around, letting his orange eyes glare. The mask did have a goblin-type feel to it.

Cooper put his fists up, not saying a word.

Goblin sighed. He walked towards Cooper.

When he got within range, Cooper swung. Goblin ducked under the punch and delivered an incredibly quick one-two punch to Cooper's face, knocking him down. Cooper gasped for air. The pain. Not even Ox had hit him that hard.

"See you soon, Spider-Man," the Goblin said. He tapped on a control panel on his wrist. Some type of glider came down from the hole in the ceiling, the Goblin jumping on it and flying away.

Cooper slowly sat up, his head pounding. He pulled his mask off, letting his face get fresh air. Breathing heavily, he pulled out his phone and tapped on the camera. There wasn't any bruising, probably thanks to his powers. As he was examining his face, he got a text from Kate, asking if he was going to be able to make it to the diner. He responded he would, putting his phone away. He climbed up through the same hole in the ceiling as the Goblin had, where he jumped off and swung back towards the carnival. As he was swinging, questions pulsed alongside the pain in his head. Who was the Goblin? And what was his game?


End file.
